Partnership forms to advance one of the largest U.S. solar projects

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Philadelphia-based developer Doral Renewables announced it has selected NovaSource Power Services as the operations and maintenance provider and generator-operator for the Mammoth Solar project in Indiana.

Mammoth Solar, living up to its name, is one of the largest solar projects in the United States. The four-phase project is set to add nearly 1.6 GWdc solar capacity.

The four phases include Mammoth North (480 MWdc), completed in Q4 2024, and Mammoth South (360 MWdc), Mammoth Central I (360 MWdc), and Mammoth Central II (360 MWdc), all expected to achieve commercial operation in 2026.

NovaSource has a track record of managing over 30 GW of solar assets worldwide. The company will support efficient and reliable operations of the solar assets and manage North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) regulatory compliance.

The project includes plans to support dual-use of the land, supporting both agriculture and renewable energy production. Mammoth North, the 400 MW project currently in operation, is an agrivoltaics installation with more than 1,500 sheep already grazing the land.

Mammoth North is built on 4,500 acres in Starke County, about 20% of which were used for solar with the other 80% remaining greenfield and/or used for growing crops.

Sheep grazing under installed tracker arrays.
Image: Doral Renewables

“Mammoth Solar’s commitment to farming families, dual-use practices and the local communities will allow farmers to produce food and crop alongside the solar panels, maximizing their land and profitability,” said Chris Hinton, vice president of asset management at Doral Renewables. “The majority of these efforts will occur during the operation phase of the project and require an O&M partner with both professional experience and a similar community-oriented approach.”

The project started as a grassroots effort in 2019 culminating with 65 families leasing their land to Doral for the project. In 2021, the company executed a long-term power purchase agreement with utility AEP Energy, a subsidiary of American Electric Power, which will be the sole offtaker.

Sitting on 13,000 acres of farm fields, Mammoth is expected to produce enough electricity to power 247,000 homes. The project is expected to install tracker systems from U.S.-based Nextracker.

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