Harvard Will Purchase Power from Two Renewable Energy Projects Through Climate Consortium

Harvard announced last week that it will help finance two utility-scale renewable energy projects through the Consortium for Climate Solutions, an agreement with institutions including MIT and Massachusetts General Hospital.

The consortium — which also includes Tufts University, the city of Cambridge, several hospitals, and Boston-area nonprofits — will support the two sites, located in Texas and North Dakota, through a pair of virtual power purchase agreements.

Under the agreements, the consortium will purchase all power generated by the facilities, but the energy will be distributed locally rather than transmitted to Massachusetts.

The virtual power purchase agreements will help Harvard move toward becoming fossil fuel-neutral by 2026, a goal first announced by then-Harvard President Drew M. Faust in 2018. Fossil fuel neutrality — unlike going fossil fuel-free, which Harvard plans to do by 2050 — involves offsetting existing carbon emissions rather than stopping all fossil fuel usage.

Harvard’s chief sustainability officer, Heather A. Henriksen, said in an interview with the Harvard Gazette, a University-run publication, that the energy generated by the two projects will be equal to Harvard’s electricity use.

“With these new utility-scale renewable electricity projects, Harvard will purchase the equivalent of 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, fulfilling a key component of our approach to meet our goal to be fossil fuel-neutral by 2026,” she told the Gazette.

According to a University press release, the consortium vetted more than 100 projects and ultimately chose two that aligned with criteria set by the Fossil Fuel-Neutral by 2026 Subcommittee of the University’s Presidential Committee on Sustainability.

In 2021, the subcommittee recommended that Harvard purchase renewable energy certificates, which are used to track renewable energy production, from projects that were not yet operational to ensure the University’s investments increase renewable energy generation beyond the baseline.

One of the two sites — the Big Elm Solar project in Bell County, Texas — has been operational since 2024. The Bowman Wind project, located in Bowman County, North Dakota, is expected to be fully online by 2026.

Together, the two projects will generate 408 megawatts of renewable energy, enough to fuel 130,000 U.S. homes per year over the course of their 15-year contracts. In addition, Big Elm Solar and Bowman Wind are expected to create more than 750 jobs and $64 million in tax revenue for the local communities, according to estimates in the University’s press release.

Harvard Executive Vice President Meredith L. Weenick ’90 said in the press release that the consortium set a precedent for climate collaboration between institutions.

“We are not only catalyzing the transition to a cleaner grid but also demonstrating a collaboration model that will enable a variety of non-profit organizations and municipalities to work together to address the urgent challenges of climate change,” Weenick said.

—Staff writer Xinni (Sunshine) Chen can be reached at sunshine.chen@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @sunshine_cxn.

—Staff writer Christie E. Beckley can be reached at christie.beckley@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @cbeckley22.