Phase II Summary: The largest percentage of the university’s GHG emissions footprint is purchased electricity to power campus operations. The appropriateness of renewable energy sources varies greatly by region. In this region of North Carolina, solar thermal and solar photovoltaic remain the most effective opportunities to replace fossil-based fuel sources for electricity. A VPPA will bring a solar farm onto the grid beginning in 2026, offsetting 100% of the university’s projected annual electricity demand.
Demonstrations
There are demonstration-scale solar PV installations on campus at the University Activities Space and at North Dining Hall. There are also solar thermal installations that provide hot water to campus buildings. A solar thermal installation for hot water is located on South Residence Hall’s roof that satisfies approximately 60% of the building’s domestic hot water demand. The Reynolds Gymnasium pool water is also heated through rooftop solar thermal panels. These are important demonstrations of the benefits of smaller-scale distributed installations.
Duke Energy’s Commitment to Net-zero Carbon Emissions by 2050
The steady decarbonization of Duke Energy’s generation mix has also created a cleaner grid and continues to complement our own efficiency gains. In 2024, Duke Energy reduced the percentage of coal-fired electricity in the generation mix to just 17%, and the company aims to end coal-fired generation entirely by 2035. This switch is possible due to increased production at the utility’s three nuclear power plants.
On-site Opportunities
In 2017, NC House Bill 5899 created new opportunities for renewables in the state, including limited commercial leasing options. A study was conducted in 2021, that identified 1.5MW of eligible roof space for solar PV installations on campus at a cost of about $3 million. The study concluded that if the university identified a qualified commercial lessor through North Carolina’s new program, design and construction would take about two years and would break even over the ~25 year life of the system. Additionally, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) created opportunities for onsite renewable energy installations through tax credits and direct pay mechanisms. For context, in order to offset Wake Forest’s 66k MW electrical footprint, the university would need approximately 25 acres of land for solar arrays. There is not sufficient land on or adjacent to campus to install a solar array of this size.
Offsite Solutions
A rapidly growing, scalable renewable energy solution across sectors is the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). In these long-term agreements, a renewable developer builds, maintains, and operates a solar or wind facility and, through a long-term agreement, an entity procures the electricity directly. In the state of North Carolina, the regulated utility provider must be a party to the agreement.
In the case of a virtual PPA, the distance between the source of generation and the entity procuring it is too far for direct transmission. Instead, the generated electricity is sold to the market and delivered to the grid. In this case, the institution that agrees to support a fixed price for the electricity receives and can retire the Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) generated from the project as an offset to emissions associated with its electrical load.
In the fall of 2023, Wake Forest joined a consortium of nine North Carolina and Pennsylvania colleges and universities to bring a large-scale solar farm onto the grid, beginning in 2026. The renewable development will be a 300k MW solar installation in Henderson County, KY called Sebree Solar II. Wake Forest’s offtake from the project is 66k MWh, which equals the university’s projected annual electricity demand. The investment in the project is estimated to offset 100% of the campus’ purchased electricity (Scope 2 emissions), thereby increasing the university’s estimated total GHG emissions reduction by approximately 75%, at least, once operational in 2026.