The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Meta, Jackson Energy Authority and Silicon Ranch have broken ground on the 70MW McKellar solar farm in Madison County, in the US state of Tennessee.
McKellar, which will help support Meta’s regional operations with 100% renewable energy, is part of TVA’s Green Invest programme.
The programme helps customers, such as Meta, meet their long-term sustainability goals with new utility-scale solar projects located within the Valley.
Nashville-based Silicon Ranch will fund, own, operate and maintain the solar farm.
The company expects to invest upwards of $90m to construct the facility, and the project will contribute millions of dollars more in property taxes, which benefit all Madison County residents by supporting local government services and the local school system.
SR EPC, a wholly-owned Silicon Ranch subsidiary, is the prime contractor for the project.
SR EPC engaged PCL Construction as the subcontractor for the PV plant and EPC Services Company as the subcontractor for the substation.
Construction of the solar facility will create more than 350 construction jobs, with preference given to the local labour pool and the military veteran community.
The solar farm will also provide additional employment for ongoing operations and maintenance, including ranchers and farmers to care for the land as part of Silicon Ranch’s Regenerative Energy holistic approach to land management.
Construction is expected to be completed before the end of 2022, with interconnection to the TVA grid facilitated by the Jackson Energy Authority distribution system.
TVA senior vice president of commercial energy solutions Doug Perry said: “TVA is the nexus for reliable, economical renewable energy solutions, and we have already committed $3bn to bring more than 2000MW of new solar to the Valley since 2018.
“This public-private partnership with Meta and Silicon Ranch demonstrates the strength of TVA’s community energy model to attract capital investment and high-quality jobs into the communities we serve while helping businesses meet their sustainability goals.”