3/4 of Maine’s electricity come from renewable sources: 1/3 from hydroelectricity, 1/4 from biomass, and 1/5 from wind. Though the CO2 aspects of the biomass can be debated, hydro and wind make up more than 50% and that’s pretty clean. And so it could be argue that the quaint amounts of solar power generated in Maine – less than 1% of total electricity – are in fact respectable for the northernmost New England state.
Solar power generation has expanded though – growing almost 300% from 13 GWh of generation in 2014, to 51 GWh in 2017: including the state’s first EIA noted utility scale generation of 10 GWh. There are two utility scale solar photovoltaic plants noted in the EIA 860M report, preliminary monthly electric generator inventory – 1.5 and 4.1 MW-AC. The state’s one large energy storage system – a 16 MWh facility operated by NextEra – is coupled with an petroleum-fired power plant.