Excellence in Renewable Energy Award Finalists Announced

Readers were asked to submit nominations for excellent renewable energy projects, innovations and leaders. In all, more than 560 nominations were received for awards that will be given in 11 categories.

Network editors sorted through the nominations, rated them, and narrowed down the list of finalists. The eleven categories include: Project of the Year for solar, wind, biomass, geothermal and hydro; Innovation awards for technology, policy/outreach and finance/business; and Leadership awards for technology, policy/outreach and finance/business.

Today voting opens for the 12th award category – Readers' Choice. Readers will now cast their votes for the project or innovation that they feel deserves recognition for its excellence.

Editors will announce the winners in all 12 categories on March 8^th at the Renewable Energy World Conference and Expo, which takes place in Tampa, Florida.

Overall, the nominations reflected the highest caliber projects, innovations and leaders from North America in the renewable energy industry.

And the finalists are:

Project of the Year – Solar

• Pocono Raceway Solar Photovoltaic System
• Sempra Generation Copper Mountain Solar Facility
• Victor Valley College project
• Blue Wing Solar Energy Generation Facility
• Aztec Solar's UCSD Student Community Solar Hot Water Project

(Note: There is no website for the USCD project. Here is an edited description: The UC San Diego Sustainable Student Community project is one of the first California universities to install SWH on nearly all of its newly developed student housing. The facility is designed for transfer students and will serve the universities growing mission of sustainability. The Solar Thermal system, designed and installed by Aztec Solar, will meet the domestic heating hot water load of the 807 residents (showers, sink faucets, and all consumable/potable water). The new project is being designed and built as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) project.)

Project of the Year – Wind

• Wind Energy Management System in Texas
• Lost Creek Wind Farm
• The Greensburg Wind Farm
• Coastal Energy Project
• Streator Cayuga Ridge Wind Farm

Project of the Year – Hydro

• Osage Plant Increases Generation 20% While Meeting Higher Environmental Standards
• Beta Tidal Power System Project in Maine at the Bay of Fundy
• Toba Montrose Project
• Canoe Creek Hydro
• Loring Road Hydroelectric Project

Project of the Year – Geothermal

• Hudson Ranch I
• Jersey Valley Geothermal Power Plant
• St. Marys Memorial High School/St. Marys Middle School 5.4 MW Geothermal Heating and Cooling project

(Note: There is no website the St. Marys project. Here is an edited description: The new St. Marys Memorial High School/St. Marys Middle School has earned the Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR designation, thanks in part to its use of a geothermal system. The project includes a geothermal well field made up of 288 vertical bore holes at 305 feet deep. The building is served by three main circulation pumps on variable frequency controls (two for system operation and one for backup) and 141 horizontal and vertical heat pumps (water to air). The majority of the heat pumps are located on mechanical service platforms or in the first-floor mechanical room, providing maintenance staff with easy access. Other features include seven make up air handling units that provide ventilation air to each heat pump. The units are provided with heat recovery and are connected to the geothermal well field. The three air handling units servicing the main gymnasium, the auxiliary gymnasium, and the auditorium have carbon dioxide sensors, which limit ventilation air required in each space. The units are connected directly to the geothermal well field. The entire building is controlled by a Web-based Direct Digital control system for temperature control.)

 Project of the Year – Biomass

• Biogas Facility for PurposeEnergy Inc.
• ShowMe Energy
• Calabasas Gas-to-Energy Facility
• Commercial Scale Wood Gasification Boiler Integrated with a Solar Thermal Collection and Storage System
• Seacliff Energy Biogas CHP

Innovation in Technology

• SG Biofuels JMax Jatropha Optimization Platform
• Cogenra Solar Cogeneration System
• BrightSource Energy's LPT 550 technology
• Wind Energy Management System (WEMS)
• A123 Systems' Smart Grid Stabilization System

Innovation in Finance  

• Solar City's Affordable Solar Financing Options
• Tioga Energy's Morris Model
• Solar San Antonio's Bring Solar Home Campaign
• Regenesis' Lakeland Solar Hot Water Service
• SunRun's Preserve Solar Homes Program

Innovation in Policy/Outreach

• GRID Alternatives' Program Model for SASH Implementation
• APS Community Power Project - Flagstaff Pilot
• ACCIONA Energy U.S. and Canada Avian and Bat Protection Plan
• Massachusetts RPS Solar Carve-Out Program
• HB 1342 Community Solar Gardens

Ready to cast your own vote? Go here to select one of these projects as your Readers' Choice winner.

The following are the finalists for the Leadership Awards. Because we have limited the voting to projects and innovations, readers will not vote on the leaders for Readers' Choice.

Leadership in Technology

• Riggs Eckelberry, President and CEO of OriginOil
• James G. P. Dehlsen, Former Chairman, Clipper Wind, now CEO of Ecomerit Technologies
• Randy Gee, Chief Technology Officer, SkyFuel
• Dr. Jennifer Holmgren, CEO, LanzaTech
• Darren T. Kimura, Founder and CEO, Sopogy
• Roch Duce, ERDC-CERL Energy Branch Senior Researcher (US Army Corp of Engineers)

Leadership in Finance/Business

• Kenneth Westrick, Founder and CEO, 3TiIER
• Billy W. Byrom, President, AET
• John Woolard, President and CEO, BrightSource Energy
• Arno Harris, CEO, Recurrent Energy
• Jigar Shah, CEO, Carbon War Room (Founder of SunEdison)
• Edward Fenster and Lynn Jurich, Founders of SunRun

Leadership in Policy/Outreach

• Kristopher Stevens, Executive Director, Ontario Sustainable Energy Association, (OSEA)
• Karl Gawell, Executive Director, Geothermal Energy Association (GEA)
• Larry Flowers, Leader of AWEA's Community Wind program (formerly with NREL's National Wind Technology Center)
• Adam Browning, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Vote Solar
• Danny Kennedy, Founder and CEO, Sungevity
• Jane M. Weissman, Executive Director, Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC)

The Renewable Energy World Network of editors congratulates all of the finalists for their work advancing the renewable energy industry!