The U.S. Army has announced the creation of the Energy Initiatives Office Task Force, a body that will serve as the central managing office for the development of large-scale Army renewable energy projects.
The task force will be part of the Army's effort to reach a goal of sourcing 25 percent of its energy from renewables by 2025, a target of all Defense Department agencies. The Army said that the new EIO Task Force is integral to its addressing rising energy security challenges, escalating fuel prices, and stricter federal mandates.
Army installations currently are pursuing renewable energy infrastructure, but, according to the Army, often lack needed expertise. The EIO Task Force will be charged with filling this expertise gap and providing resources to enable private sector involvement in large-scale renewable energy projects. The Army hopes this will result in increased interest by project developers and better prices on projects.
The scale of renewable energy production the Army says it needs in order "to provide enhanced energy security" is estimated to require investment up to $7.1 billion over the next 10 years. This level of investment is expected to generate 2.1 million megawatt hours of power annually for the Army.
The task force will be part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment. It will be operational by Sept. 15, 2011, the Army said.
