Recurrent Energy, LLC ("Recurrent"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian Solar Inc., has completed construction on a 100-megawatt renewable solar power plant near Ruleville in the Mississippi Delta, providing clean energy to Entergy Mississippi's 461,000 customers. The Sunflower Solar Station is Mississippi's largest solar facility, with enough electricity to power 16,000 homes.
The Sunflower Solar Station was designed and built by Recurrent Energy for Entergy Mississippi, who will own it for the rest of its life. The Sunflower project is one of the first utility-scale solar projects in the United States to be built under a Build Transfer Agreement (BTA). In 2018, Recurrent Energy and Entergy Mississippi executed a BTA that designated the regulated utility as the Sunflower project's owner after it reached commercial operation. The Mississippi Public Service Commission unanimously authorized the BTA in April 2020.
"It's a historic day for Entergy Mississippi, our customers and our state. Powering communities is the heart of our business, and this power station does that in several ways—by providing clean, green power to customers, a hedge against rising natural gas prices, and giving industries with renewable energy goals an incentive to locate or expand operations in our state."
- Haley Fisackerly, Entergy Mississippi president and CEO
The Sunflower project is the first of what will be the state's largest renewable energy expansion in history. Entergy Mississippi aims to replace some old natural gas facilities with 1,000 megawatts of renewable energy over the next five years under a program called EDGE, which stands for "Economic Development with Green Energy."
Mississippi suppliers and construction employees were hired for the Sunflower project. The foundations were built with 2,475 tons of steel from Attala Steel Industries in Kosciusko. The perimeter fence was also installed by A-1 Kendrick Fence Company of Jackson. Workers from the area and nearby counties contributed more than half of the labor hours spent on the project's construction. The EPC provider was Signal Energy LLC.
The emissions-free, renewable energy plant is located on 1,000 acres in Sunflower County and connects to Entergy's Ruleville transmission infrastructure. With 272,000 solar modules, the plant is a single axis tracking photovoltaic power generator.