December 21 – Local utilities are starting to get into solar energy after the recent opening of the First Solar plant, but TVA is allowing only 5% of their energy production to come from this alternative source.
Decatur Utilities has opted not to build its own solar farm, while the Joe Wheeler Electric Membership Cooperative farm is set to open in January.
The Decatur Utilities board approved a memorandum of understanding Wednesday to join a Tennessee Valley partnership building a solar farm in the Huntsville area.
DU General Manager Ray Hardin said they chose not to start their own solar farm for several reasons.
He said the Tennessee Valley Authority requires solar farms to be within DU’s service area and connected to the electric grid in the correct location.
“That property is simply not available,” Hardin said. “And the other thing is there are no economies of scale that make it worth our time.”
Instead, DU is joining a program known as “Flexibility 2.0,” a TVA program that will allow DU to pool its power with other utilities in North Alabama.
“We are one of eight to 10 utilities that plan to participate in this program and spend our 5% on this capacity, which is approximately 17 1/2 megawatts,” Hardin said.
Hardin said utilities are currently finalizing their memoranda of understanding to send the developer’s application package to TVA.
“This goes to TVA for review and approval,” Hardin said.
He said the projection is that the solar farm will be connected to DU’s power grid in late 2026 or early 2027.
Hardin said the project will not require any money from the utilities. The developer will handle all investments with the utilities and then commit to a 30-year purchase contract for the utilities to purchase their pro-rata share of the developer’s power.
“We expect costs to be well below TVA,” Hardin said.
—
Trinity solar energy
Just west of the Morgan-Lawrence county line, a 7-acre solar farm in Trinity is on track to come online by the first of this year, an official with the Joe Wheeler Electric Membership Cooperative said.
The plant is located at 222 Lawrence County and Cooperage Way, across from the new First Solar manufacturing facility. This will mark the opening of the first solar facility in a partnership between Joe Wheeler and Peak Solarworks LLC.
Atlanta-based Peak Solarworks specializes in distributed solar projects in the Southeast.
Joe Wheeler spokesman Michael Cornelison said his co-op supplies the property around the Mount Home substation.
He said Peak has a “favorable” lease on the property and is building the facility. The agreement requires the company to use only First Solar Series 7 solar panels.
Cornelison said the cooperative agreed to purchase power from the new facility for 20 years “at a lower rate than what we get from TVA.” TVA allows its partners to purchase up to 5 megawatts of power annually from outside sources.
“This solar farm utilizes JWEMC properties that were previously unused, allowing us to purchase power at a lower cost than is currently available through our normal TVA supply,” said Ken McGee, director of engineering at Joe Wheeler EMC. “This project will help us better control some of our energy costs in the coming years, with the added benefit of being a good business neighbor with the new First Solar factory.”
The facility is designed to produce more than 2 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually, which is enough for approximately 125 to 150 homes per year. Joe Wheeler has 40,000 members in Lawrence and Morgan counties
Hardin said he is aware of the solar farm in Lawrence County, but he expects DU will benefit from the Huntsville project because it will be a much larger installation.
“Part of what attracted us is that the economies of scale of a larger facility will likely give us the best price for energy,” Hardin said.
— bayne.hughes@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2432
