The Kentucky Municipal Energy Agency and RWE recently broke ground on the Ashwood Solar I Project, the largest solar project in the state.
More than 226,000 solar panels are being installed in Lyon County, Kentucky, covering an area of 250 acres. The total generating capability will be 86 megawatts.
Ashwood will be constructed and operated by RWE Clean Energy, a subsidiary of RWE AG, with an agreement that calls for KYMEA to purchase 100% of the energy produced by the project over a 20-year term.
The eight KYMEA Kentucky communities receiving power from the project are: Barbourville Utility Commission, Bardwell City Utilities, City Utilities Commission of Corbin, City of Falmouth, Frankfort Plant Board, Madisonville Electric Department, City of Paris Combined Utilities, and the City of Providence Utilities.
The solar power project is expected to produce almost 200 million kilowatt-hours of electrical energy annually. Ashwood will supply approximately 15% of the energy needs of KYMEA.
To enhance efficiency, the project will use bi-facial, fixed-tilt panels, maximizing power output.
RWE Clean Energy operates a renewable energy portfolio of about 8 gigawatts installed capacity of onshore wind, solar, and battery storage, making it the number four renewable energy company in the U.S. and the country’s second largest solar owner and operator, present in the majority of U.S. states.
Construction of the project is expected to be completed by June 1, 2024.
Created in September 2015, 11 municipal electric utilities entered into an Interlocal Cooperation Agreement creating KYMEA, a joint public agency.
More information is available at kymea.org.
