Renewable Energy Represents "One of the Most Interesting Nexus" in Today's Energy World, MRLS Graduate Says

Danny Splettstosser (MRLS graduate 2007) says, "Renewable energy represents one of the most interesting nexus in terms of policy, regulation, technology, and business." And he ought to know since he is an associate project developer for enXco, a major renewable energy developer. enXco is an affiliate of EDF Energies Nouvelles, which is a member of the French-based EDF group.

In addition to being one of the biggest wind developers in the U.S. (enXco operates more than 1,900 of its own wind turbines and manages another 2,000 wind turbines), enXco is the largest operations and maintenance service provider in the U.S. As such, enXco is a major player in the growing field of American-based renewable energy generation. And that makes Mr. Splettstosser's observations particularly insightful.

Having joined enXco after graduating from the graduate program about 18 months ago, Mr. Splettstosser is now actively involved in the firm's solar business. In this role, he has projects spanning the entire country.

When we spoke last week he pointed out that in some regions of the country -- e.g., Arizona, Southern California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah -- solar may in many instances be preferable to wind. He noted that while solar may be more expensive than wind (although he noted that the price differential is rapidly decreasing), solar has its own advantages. Whereas wind is very "location dependent," solar can be installed in vast areas of the American southwest, he said. In addition, solar facilities are often smaller than wind projects and thus can more effectively be "plugged into" the current grid.

Irrespective of whether a project is wind or solar focused, however, he explained that "there is a great amount of legal and policy work involved. And it continues to grow rapidly."

Mr. Splettstosser identified two major (and continuing) barriers to more integration of renewables into the total U.S. generating portfolio:

• Lack of adequate transmission, particularly in the southwest part of the U.S. The typical model now is that the fuel is moved -- in rail cars or through pipelines -- to where the loads are; with renewables, however, the power must be moved from the generating sites to load centers.
• The capital intensive nature of wind and solar development. In most instances, it is more expensive to build wind and solar facilities than equivalent (from a power producing standpoint) fossil fuel facilities. On the other hand, wind and solar facilities will face effectively no increase in fuel costs while the fossil facilities are always faced with the risk of higher fuel prices. The key, he said, is "how to create a stable regulatory structure that will allow you to recover the capital investments over a period of time."

It goes without saying that the economy has suffered greatly over the last 12 to 18 months. However, Mr. Splettstosser is a great example of what can happen with the right combination of education, determination, and imagination. America's energy future is in the hands of people like Danny Splettstosser. Let's hope -- for the sake of all of us -- that he and his colleagues are wildly successful