Johns Hopkins Health System has entered into a power purchase agreement (PPA) with renewable energy project developer Energix for 13 megawatts of solar energy. The deal was facilitated by LevelTen Energy.
The electricity will come from Energix’s Hollyfield II solar project, which became operational in July 2021.
The deal “proves that power purchase agreements are no longer limited to large technology companies,” says Ryan Warren, chief commercial officer of LevelTen Energy, a company that provides transaction infrastructure for buyers, sellers and financiers of renewable energy.
This is Johns Hopkins Health System’s second investment in solar energy. In 2016, Johns Hopkins negotiated a 20-year lease with SolarCity for 13.6 megawatts of solar power. The resulting solar project comprises more than 40,000 solar panels across a 97-acre plot of land in Wye Mills, Maryland.
Healthcare facilities in the US account for 4.8% of the total area in the commercial sector and are responsible for 10.3% of total energy consumption in the sector, according to MDPI. The energy intensity of US hospitals is about 2.6 times higher than that of other commercial buildings, MDPI wrote in 2019.
