The Indiana Municipal Power Agency officially cut the ribbon on its newest and largest Solar Park. Utility and Washington officials officially opened the new Washington Solar Park 2 just northwest of the city.
“We are really excited to get this up and running because now we can close it all in and start sending power into Washington, and that begins the process of returning our investment,” said IMPA President and CEO Jack Alvey. “We have been working on solar since 2014. We are now at 8% of our power supply being renewable energy. Coal has decreased from 80% to around 50% of our portfolio.”
“We are proud of this and we are excited about this one,” said Washington Mayor David Rhoads. “A lot of people don’t even realize it is there. This is three times bigger than the solar field we have behind Perdue.”
The project took two years to complete. It produces 9.9 megawatts of electricity. The project cost almost $20 million, including a new transmission line that runs from the park to the Westside substation.
“People don’t realize the advantage this provides for the city,” said Rhoads. “All of this electricity comes back into the city’s grid. This helps us keep our rates low and should help us not have to raise rates for the municipal utility customers. This will help everyone, both the consumers and the city.”
The solar park sits on 57 acres and consists of 28,224 solar panels. The panels rotate and track the sun through the day to maximize the energy production opportunities. The facility will provide enough electricity to power 1,980 homes.
“This is a big deal,” said Rhoads. “This is the biggest solar park IMPA has. We are happy and IMPA is happy. It is a benefit for everyone.”
Washington opened its first solar plant in 2016. This facility is producing around triple the capacity of the first. Currently, IMPA has no plans yet to begin another solar plant.
“Right now, we don’t have plans for a Washington-3,” said Alvey. “We look at a town’s size and its entire load. We do not want to create more electrical load than the town uses. We want whatever solar that we generate here, used here.”
IMPA has 50 solar parks operating around Indiana, including the two in Washington, producing almost 200 megawatts of electricity.