RWE Renewables activated the Hickory Park Solar project, a 195.5 MW solar facility with 40 MW, two-hour battery energy storage co-located.
The project is located in Mitchell County Georgia, and RWE is the operator/manager of the facility, selling energy and renewables certificates to utility Georgia Power through its Renewable Energy Development Initiative (REDI) program. It will sell power to the utility has part of a 30-year power purchase agreement.
“Projects like Hickory Park, With its co-located battery storage systems, will become increasingly important as renewables from a bigger part of the energy mix. This project plays an important role in expanding our operating portfolio in the US, one of our focus markets,” Silvia Ortin, CEO RWE Renewables Americas.
The project utilized 650,000 solar panels covering 1,800 acres. It integrated a DC-coupled storage system that allows the project’s energy yield to be optimized and increases the predictability of the facility’s energy supply.
“Our largest solar project in the Americas is now benefiting the state of Georgia, including tax revenue to local counties and school districts,” said Ortin “We are pleased to develop this project and advance solar in the state of Georgia as part of Georgia Power’s REDI program.”
RWE Renewables has operations in Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region, with a target of 50 GW of renewable energy in operations by 2030. It is investing over $50 billion gross in pursuit of this goal this decade.
The United States accounts for over one-third of RWE’s renewables capacity and plays a key role in the company’s goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2040. The company has more than 30 projects in operation in the US, totaling an installed generation capacity of more than 5 GW.
Georgia ranks 7th nationally in the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) solar deployment ratings, with over 4.3 GW installed to date. The state holds over 4,400 solar jobs, houses 176 solar businesses, and roughly 4% of the state’s total electricity comes from solar energy.
The state currently has enough solar capacity to power over 500,000 homes. SEIA projects the state will install nearly 2 GW over the next five years, ranking it 16th in the nation over that period.
A full list of Georgia state incentives for solar can be found here.
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