The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has announced that a new 100MW solar facility in Obion County will provide carbon-free energy to Google’s data centers located in Clarksville, TennHollywood, Alabama.
Origis Energy, a Florida-based solar developer, is using TVA’s Green Invest programme to develop the solar farm.
This programme aids firms such as Google in meeting their long-term sustainability goals with new renewable energy projects.
The last two years has seen Green Invest generate $1.4bn in economic activity in the service area of TVA.
TVA vice president for origination and renewables Chris Hansen said: “TVA’s Green Invest can deliver clean, reliable renewable energy at a competitive price – stimulating growth across our seven-state region and giving our region a competive advantage through public power.
Origis Energy will own and operate the plant through a long-term power purchase agreement.
During construction phase, this solar farm will create over 300 jobs. There would be scope for additional employment for eight to ten full-time operations and maintenance staff.
The solar facility is expected to be operational by the end of 2022, following environmental reviews.
Origis Energy chief commercial officer and chief procurement officer Johan Vanhee said: “This Tennessee solar milestone is another demonstration of the success of TVA’s Green Invest partnership.
“Such utility innovations are helping Google reach its aim to be the first major company to operate carbon free by 2030. We are very pleased to add 100 megawatts to this goal while contributing to the economic development of Obion County.”
Google already bought 266MW of power produced by several solar farms linked into the TVA electric grid, in order to power its data centers.
Reid Spolek, who is with Google data center energy strategy, said: “Google is the world’s largest corporate buyer of renewable energy and our goal is with TVA and Origis through Green Invest.
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a corporate agency that provides electricity for business customers and local power companies and serves almost 10 million people in parts of seven southeastern states.
