JEFFERSON - Jackson EMC President/CEO Chip Jakins announced Wednesday that its renewable energy supplier, Green Power EMC, has reached an agreement to purchase the full output of a new 52-Megawatt solar array planned for construction in Jeff Davis County near Hazlehurst. Jackson EMC is among 27 Georgia electric cooperatives that will receive solar energy from the project. Jackson EMC members will receive roughly 5 MW of the plant’s total output.
According to Jakins, the 52-MW solar array will occupy approximately 600 acres, includes technology that allows the panels to track the sun from east to west, and will produce enough electricity to serve approximately 8,500 EMC households. Once completed, the 52-MW array will generate more than 134 million kilowatt-hours of renewable electricity annually. Officials say that amount of clean energy offsets 92,500 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to burning 10.4 million gallons of gasoline, or the emissions from more than 19,500 automobiles.
This is the second such agreement that Green Power EMC has executed with owner-operator Silicon Ranch Corporation. Under the agreement, Silicon Ranch will own and operate the solar array, and Green Power EMC will purchase all the energy and environmental attributes it produces over a 30-year period. Construction on the array is scheduled to begin later this year, and the facility will be ready to produce electricity in the fall of 2016.
Jakins said the project is the result of a request for proposals issued in late 2013 to add more solar energy to Green Power EMC’s portfolio. The company provides renewable energy to 38 of Georgia’s EMCs.
“The addition of one of the largest solar projects in Georgia to our power generation portfolio not only demonstrates our commitment to Georgia’s renewable resources, it also allows our member consumers the choice of purchasing competitively priced solar energy,” said Jakins. “We are excited to be a part of this major expansion of solar energy in Georgia.”
Green Power EMC and its partner, Silicon Ranch, are also developing a 20-MW solar array near Hazlehurst that will begin producing electricity in late 2015. Jackson EMC members will also receive 5 MW from that project. These projects total over 72-MW of capacity and combined will more than triple the total renewable capacity of Green Power EMC – from the current 32 MW to about 104 MW. Collectively, the two Hazlehurst projects are one of the largest solar generating facilities in Georgia and will propel Jeff Davis County into position as one of the top solar communities in the United States.
