Nestled amid the rolling hills and rivers of the Pacific Northwest, the Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) has the sort of problem many U.S. utilities still dream of: too much renewable energy.
With the rapid expansion of wind generation in the past 20 years, the Eugene, Oregon, utility now finds itself with a power surplus in the spring, when the rivers from which it also draws energy are high, EWEB spokesman Joe Harwood said. So when nearby gas utility NW Natural reached out about the prospect of partnering on a hydrogen pilot project, the proposal made sense.
