Total capacity of US DOD RE installations will quadruple by 2025

USA: The US Department of Defense (DOD) currently spends approximately $20 billion per year directly on energy, consuming 3.8 billion kilowatts hours (kWh) of electricity and 120 million barrels of oil per year.

The effort to reduce energy costs and reliance on fossil fuels – often purchased from countries hostile to US interests – and increase energy security, particularly for forward operating bases (FOBs), is driving sweeping changes to DOD policies around energy.

In particular, the DOD has ambitious plans to increase its use of renewable energy. According to a recent report from Pike Research, a part of Navigant’s Energy Practice, the total installed capacity of renewable energy sources for the U.S. military will grow from 80 megawatts (MW) in 2013 to more than 3,200 MW by 2025 – increasing more than four-fold in 12 years.

“US military spending on renewable energy programs, including conservation measures, will reach almost $1.8 billion in 2025,” says research analyst Dexter Gauntlett. “This effort has the potential to not only transform the production, consumption, and transport of fuel and energy within the military; it will likely make the DOD one of the most important drivers of cleantech in the United States.”

The Army, Navy, and Air Force have each established targets of 1 gigawatt of installed renewable energy capacity by 2025. These initiatives have gained considerable momentum, according to the report, and many of the targets will be achieved.

Through innovative funding models, such as power purchase agreements (PPAs) and enhanced use leases, some military installations should be able to pay the same amount or less for renewable sources of electricity as they do for retail power from the grid, depending on the technology and specific location.