The Golden Triangle II solar project will look similar to the Origis Energy solar installation in Lamar County, Miss. Photo courtesy of TVA.
Through a partnership with Facebook, the Tennessee Valley Authority’s renewable energy ‘Green Invest’ program will bring a battery storage facility to Mississippi.
According to TVA, they’ll also be partnering with Origis Energy to develop the 150-megawatt solar and 50-megawatt battery storage facility in Lowndes County, Mississippi, to support Facebook’s two data centers in the Tennessee Valley.
“Our region is ready for companies who want to use renewable energy to achieve their sustainability goals,” Chris Hansen, TVA vice president, Origination and Renewables, said. “Green Invest is more than a renewables program; when businesses relocate here, jobs are created and people can find work – revitalizing both rural and urban communities.”
Origis will own and operate the plant when it is eventually completed in late 2023. The project will create more than 250 construction jobs, with additional employment for 3-5 full-time operations and maintenance staff.
“This is our second utility-scale solar facility in Mississippi with TVA, and it demonstrates the success of Green Invest in connecting local communities, private business and public power through renewable energy,” Johan Vanhee, Origis Energy chief commercial officer and chief procurement officer, said. “We are excited to use TVA’s innovative program to contribute to economic activity in Lowndes County while helping Facebook achieve its carbon reduction goals.”
A news release explained that Facebook has announced purchases of 597-megawatts of power generated by multiple solar farms linked into the TVA electric grid in Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi since 2018.
“Partnering with TVA on the Green Invest program has made it possible for our operations in the Tennessee Valley to be supported by new solar energy constructed in the region,” Urvi Parekh, head of Renewable Energy at Facebook, said. “This solar farm will be Facebook’s first renewable energy project in Mississippi and first large-scale energy storage project, which marks an important milestone for our global portfolio.”
TVA describes its ‘Green Invest’ program as an award-winning model that offers business and industry an effective, timely, and cost-competitive solution to aggressively meet their sustainability goals.
