Governor McAuliffe announced a new utility-scale solar facility to be built in Southampton County. The 100MW project, under development by Community Energy Solar, will avoid the release of 134,377 tons of carbon dioxide, 631 tons of sulfur dioxide, 315 tons of nitrogen oxides, and 12 tons of particulate matter annually.
“Once complete, the new Southampton facility will be the largest solar farm ever constructed in Virginia,” said Governor Terry McAuliffe. “The pace of solar deployment has increased exponentially in recent years and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. With projects like this, we’re building both the new Virginia economy and a better future for our children.”
Since 1999, Pennsylvania-based Community Energy Solar has developed more than 1,500MW of solar and wind power. The developer’s past projects include, what was until this point, Virginia’s largest solar installation, the 80MW Amazon Solar Farm U.S. East in Accomack County. Amazon Web Services, a leader in the growing field of cloud computing, will purchase power from both facilities as part of their global effort to achieve carbon neutrality.
Community Energy Solar builds long-term relationships by delivering energy options that work for customers, investors and utilities. Their projects build on community trust and utility expertise to bring reliable, high-quality solar energy projects to market. Community Energy has a ten-year plus track record of renewable energy development, resulting in $1.5 billion of new energy investment.
“Amazon Web Services’ leadership and continued commitment to large scale solar energy is a key catalyst for this exciting new industry in Virginia.” said Brent Beerley, Executive VP of Community Energy Solar. “Community Energy Solar is thrilled to join forces again with partners AWS and Dominion for this second project, following the path created with Virginia’s first large scale solar farm – the Amazon Solar Farm US East in Accomack County.”
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