Sawnee Electric Membership Corporation announced Tuesday that the company's Board of Directors recently gave approval for the corporation to participate in four new large solar facilities, totaling 200 MW.
A press statement said the four solar projects are being developed in southeast GA for Green Power EMC, a non‐for‐profit cooperative founded in 2001 by electric cooperatives like Sawnee to solicit, screen and recommend renewable power agreements to participating members. Sawnee will not have an investment or ownership interest in any of these solar projects; the cooperative has agreed to purchase a portion of the solar energy generated at a fixed price for the next 30 years.
"This action demonstrates our ongoing commitment to having a competitively-priced and environmentally-responsible, diversified generation portfolio which meets the ever-changing needs of our growing membership," said Michael A.Goodroe, President and CEO of Sawnee.
Of the 200 MW these four projects represent, Sawnee will subscribe to 20 MW, or 10%, of the total energy output. The projects are scheduled to be constructed and will come online in stages over the next four years.
“These will be good projects economically; both for our members and for our state,” said Blake House, Sawnee’s Vice President of Member Services.
Sawnee has previously participated in other renewable generation projects that included landfill gas, biomass and utility scale solar. As is the case with all renewable projects, the cooperative has always chosen to participate strategically, over time, and only when it makes economic sense for the members, according to Sawnee officials.
