Dive Brief:
- Southern Co. has added to its growing solar portfolio, announcing the acquisition of a 103 MW facility in Taylor County, Ga., expected to be online next year.
- Purchase of the Butler solar project, from Community Energy, marks the latest in a string of solar deals the company has completed and is the fourth facility in Georgia that Southern will own.
- The company did not disclose the cost of the project, but SNL reports that in its first quarter Form 10-Q the cost was estimated at up to $230 million.
Dive Insight:
Southern Co. is continuing its string of solar deals, this time purchasing the Butler plant through its Southern Power subsidiary. Among other recent deals its Gulf Power subsidiary announced it would purchase 180 MW from the Kingfisher Wind project in Oklahoma, and Southern Power acquired another facility, the 150-megawatt Solar Gen 2 facility in Imperial County, Calif.
Southern Power, Southern's wholesale electricity subsidiary, has now acquired or is constructing more than 1,100 MW of renewable capacity through 16 total projects, including four solar facilities in Georgia.
"The Butler solar facility builds on Southern Company's innovative approach to diversifying our nation's energy mix," Southern Co. Chairman, President and CEO Thomas Fanning said in a statement. "Our strategic development of solar in Georgia continues our company's expansion of renewable energy generation in the Southeast."
Another Southern subsidiary, Georgia Power, selected the project through the Georgia Power Advanced Solar Initiative's competitive bidding process. Plans call for construction to begin in September with commercial operations beginning late next year.
Southern expects the Butler project to use more than 1 million of First Solar's thin-film photovoltaic solar modules mounted on single-axis tracking tables. And the company said power and renewable credits from the facility will be sold under a 30-year power purchase agreement with Georgia Power.
