Kentucky tips crown to solar power with one project to triple capacity

The Kentucky Municipal Energy Agency has signed a power contract to purchase most of the electricity from an 86 MW-AC solar power plant, which will begin to offset the loss of coal and gas facilities at the end of 2022. The Kentucky Municipal Energy Agency (KMEA), a group of 11 city-owned utilities, agreed last week to purchase 62.5% of an 86 MW-AC solar power plant starting in late 2022. The remaining volume will be purchased by Owensboro Municipal Utilities (OMU), pending board approval. The facility is being built, owned and managed by Ashwood Solar I, LLC, a joint venture between MAP Energy and Open Road Renewables (ORR). The project will feature single axis trackers covering 800 acres of land, and the facility is projected to produced 200 gigawatt-hours per year. This represents a 26.5% AC-capacity factor.