Solar Get’s A Big Solar Boost In Kentucky

There is some exciting news about solar in the State of Kentucky coming up. The Kentucky Municipal Energy Agency (KMEA), a collection of 11 city-owned utilities, agreed last week to buy 62.5% of an 86 MW-AC solar power plant beginning in late 2022. The outstanding volume will be bought by Owensboro Municipal Utilities (OMU), pending board endorsement.

The plant is being constructed, owned and managed by Ashwood Solar I, LLC, a joint venture within MAP Energy and Open Road Renewables (ORR). The project will feature single axis trackers including 800 acres of land, and the facility is forecasted to produced 200 gigawatt-hours per year. This designates a 26.5% AC-capacity factor.

The variant of the power purchase agreement (PPA) between KMEA and Ashwood recognized by PV magazine obstructed all pricing or further system capacity data.

In Recent Solar News That Can Influence This Story

In a recently released powerpoint presentation, the power utility noted that in the latter part of 2021 they’re going to lose about 100 MW of coal and gas capacity. The below slide shows some of the concepts put forth, and note that the orange section of the chart is still recorded as ‘to be discussed’.

The Solar Agreement Notes Information That Can Be Found Here

You might be wondering what happened with the agreement. The agreement notes that OMU may buy the remainder of the solar power plant’s output. If it doesn’t, KMEA has the right but not the commitment to buy the rest of the power.

KMEA said that it got many proposals ranging from 10 to 30 year PPAs, though most featured 20-year terms. The utility also remarked that moving from a 10 to a 20 year PPA reduced the pricing 20-40%, and even moving from a 15 to a 20 year PPA reduced the price 3 to 10%.

The 30-year pricing was 1 to 14% below prior, but none of the 30-year contracts were deemed competitive. The reason for this was not exposed.

The state’s contemporary largest solar power plant is only 10 MW and was created two years ago. SEIA estimates that the state has invested a total of 32 MW of solar power. With this project unlikely to be realized until 2022, it probably won’t triple the capacity in the fray then, but it does show big business that despite the state’s association with coal, Kentucky is a viable marketplace.

Another viable marketplace is found at HahaSmart.  We offer great deals on solar technology and put you in touch with local installers who will help to find the best installation price to be seen.  

HahaSmart News - Stay Informed
Solar Incentives - Check State Incentives
Expand Solar Knowledge - Learn More About Solar
Join HahaSmart Installer Platform - Become a HahaSmart Verified Installer