Toyota Signs PPA for Solar Energy from Closed Coal Mine Project

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Renewable energy company Savion Energy LLC (Kansas City, Missouri) has moved a step closer toward establishing a solar power facility at the site of a closed Kentucky coal mine. Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE:TM) (Toyota City, Japan) has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for 100 megawatts (MW) of power from the planned facility. Industrial Info is tracking $970 million worth of Savion projects and $8.5 billion worth of active solar projects in Kentucky.

In 2021, Savion got the ball rolling on plans to construct a 200-MW solar farm on 1,200 acres at the site of the former Martiki coal mine in Martin County, near the West Virginia border. The former mountain-top strip mine closed in the 1990s. The site has clear access to sunlight, and the facility will be able to interconnect with the 138-kilovolt Inez Substation. The plant will use panels manufactured by First Solar Incorporated (NASDAQ:FSLR) (Tempe, Arizona).

Earlier this week, Toyota announced it had signed a virtual PPA with Savion for 100 MW of the plant's output. The move will help Toyota meet its goal of increasing its purchased renewable energy to 45% of its total purchased electricity by 2025 and making operations from its North American plants carbon-neutral by 2025. Toyota's largest automotive assembly plant in the world is in Kentucky.

Construction on the facility at the former Martiki mine is expected to begin later this year, putting it on track for completion in early 2025. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can click here for more details of the project.

Savion may have more in store for the Martiki site. Plans to install a 100-MW battery energy storage system at the solar plant are in a very early stage. This isn't slated to begin until well after completion of the solar farm, with a possible in-service date of 2027. Subscribers can click here for more information.

The former coal mine isn't Savion's solar project site in Kentucky. The company also is building a 175-MW solar facility near Harrodsburg. The project is expected to be completed early next year. Subscribers can click here for the report.

Renewable energy projects have been slower to take off in Kentucky than other states, and the 200-MW Martiki mine project will be one of Kentucky's largest solar facilities. Among the solar projects presently under construction in the state is Pine Gate Renewables LLC's (Asheville, North Carolina) solar farm in Metcalfe County. The facility will use more than 141,000 panels to achieve a nameplate generating capacity of 55 MW. Construction started late last year, and the project is wrapping up. Subscribers can click here for the full report.

ENGIE SA (La Defense, France) is underway with its similarly sized Horseshoe Bend photovoltaic facility near Greensburg. The facility will use an estimated 150,000 solar panels to generate 60 MW. Engineering, procurement and construction firm Wanzek Construction (Fargo, North Dakota) is expected to complete the project in the first half of 2024. Subscribers can click here for more details.

Other Kentucky solar projects in the pipeline include Silicon Ranch's (Nashville, Tennessee) planned 173-MW facility near Olmstead, which also will feature 30 MW of battery energy storage. Construction is expected to begin early next year, putting the facility on track for completion in late 2025. Subscribers can click here for the full report.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Power Database can click here for the reports on all of the projects discussed in this article and click here for the related plant profiles.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).