3.0

Average Course Rating

This course examines the financial, legal and regulatory topics related to the development of renewable energy (RE) projects (wind, solar, geothermal, hydro etc.) in the US. The bulk of the course focuses on utility scale projects, with the latter section on smaller scale renewable distributed energy resources (DER). The course is divided into sections on finance, siting, basic technical features of the electric grid, and regulatory background. The finance section will provide fundamentals of corporate and project finance, then focus on the ownership and financing structures used for developing renewable energy projects. Basic financial terms and conditions such as power purchase agreements will be reviewed. The project siting and development section will review models for feasibility studies, environmental assessment and permitting at state and Federal levels. The electrical grid section will discuss at a high level on how the power system works, including basics of transmission and generation, with a focus on concepts useful for developing projects, including the transmission interconnection process. Multiple case studies will be used throughout the course to highlight successful models and approaches. At the end of the course the students will have critical skills to work on project development and finance components of RE projects in the US.