Renewable Energy Systems (RES), an engineering and construction company for wind, solar, transmission, and energy storage projects, has started construction on the 160MW Southern Oak Solar Project in the state of Georgia.
Image: RES starts construction of the Southern Oak Solar Project in the state of Georgia. Photo: Courtesy of Renewable Energy Systems Ltd.
RES said that the Southern Oak solar project was developed by Invenergy and marks the America’s largest bifacial solar project.
Through Georgia Power’s Renewable Energy Development Initiative (REDI) program, the energy generated from the project, including all the renewable energy credits and environmental attributes, is sold to Georgia Power.
Bifacial solar modules generate power from both sides of the panels and allow the project owners to make better use of available space by capturing additional solar energy within the same footprint.
The company said that the project is commissioned with LONGi’s bifacial modules, and in addition, NEXTracker’s single axis tracker racking system will also be implemented at the Southern Oak project.
RES construction vice president Tim Jordan said, “This project offers a real opportunity to become the future of solar technology in the United States. Bifacial modules allow project owners to tackle land area constraints and make the most of resources without installing more plant infrastructure.”
The company said that the construction at the project is expected to create more than 400 jobs and generate more than $12m in local economic development over the next ten years of operation. The Southern Oak solar project is expected to be completed and operational by the end of 2019.
Invenergy renewable project management vice president Utopia Hill said: “For this project, Invenergy wanted to work with an experienced and knowledgeable construction partner. RES fulfills these criteria, and we look forward to the timely completion of the facility this year.”
In September last year, RES was chosen by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) to build a 58MW solar PV system in Rich County, Utah.
Under the contract, the company was responsible for self-perform key project scopes, including pile, tracker, module, PV/MV electrical, and substation installation.
Comprising 636,000 FS4 solar modules on a NEXTracker solar tracking system, the solar project is expected to produce enough clean energy to power nearly 14,000 homes annually.