The solar panels at the new Limestone site will eventually produce 67 megawatts of power annually, Brendan Andrew, business development manager for Duke Energy, said after a presentation this week to the Limestone County Commission. That is enough to supply power to more than 15,000 homes a year, Andrew said.Scott Fiedler, TVA spokesman, said TVA currently uses 642 megawatts of solar energy, with 302 of those megawatts produced in north Alabama.
“It’s big ,” Boggs said of the planned site. " TVA buys the power from us. It will not be a competitor to us. It’s a complement to us. It’s all to the good.”“Jobs and investment,” he said. “Solar is an economic driver. People choose to come to TVA because of our clean, diverse portfolio. Roughly 60% of the power we generate is carbon-free already and getting cleaner.”
Andrew said this project is a way to keep the land productive, increase the tax base and also give the land back in 40 years for another use. Fiedler said there is an incentive for companies to set up solar facilities. “We give power purchase contracts so we guarantee we will buy the power. Athenian owns and operates the facility, and we purchase the power from them.”