PSEG Solar Source has acquired a 25.9 MW-dc solar energy facility from Ecoplexus for an investment of more than $40 million. The facility, to be called the PSEG Meadows Solar Energy Center, is located in Martin County, North Carolina about 80 miles east of Raleigh.
The PSEG Meadows Solar Energy Center has a 15-year power purchase agreement with Virginia Electric and Power Company, a subsidiary of Dominion Resources. It sits on approximately 105 acres under a 35-year lease with a private landowner.
Diana Drysdale, president of PSEG Solar Source, stated:
“We are pleased to extend our portfolio into North Carolina and be able to provide enough clean, reliable energy to power 3,800 North Carolina homes. The PSEG Meadows Solar Energy Center is another example of utility-scale solar becoming increasingly cost-competitive with other sources of energy and one step closer to providing a sustainable future for all.”
Ecoplexus is the engineering, procurement and construction contractor and will operate the project for PSEG Solar Source upon completion. Construction is underway and commercial operations are expected to commence within the next several months. The facility will use approximately 152,000 Solar Frontier thin film solar panels with tier 1 inverters.
John Gorman, CEO of Ecoplexus commented:
“With this partnership, we look forward to bringing online a generation facility that will provide cost-effective solar power. Together with PSEG, we are pleased to provide the benefits of solar energy to Virginia Electric and Power Company’s customers.”
This is PSEG Solar Source’s fifteenth utility-scale project in eleven states. Its other projects are located in Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Texas, Utah and Vermont. The acquisition will increase the capacity of PSEG Solar Source’s portfolio to 241 MW-dc.