Entergy Arkansas and NextEra Energy Resources have commissioned the 81MW the Stuttgart Solar Energy Center in the state of Arkansas.
Image: Officials of NextEra Energy and Entergy at the inauguration of the solar plant. Photo: Courtesy of Entergy Corporation.
Spread across in an area of 475 acres and located 7 miles from southeast of Stuttgart, Ark, the solar farm took eight months to be constructed. The solar plant is considered to be the largest in the state.
During the construction phase generated significant boost to the local economy by creating hundreds of jobs and stimulating purchase of local goods and services.
NextEra Energy Resources president and CEO Armando Pimentel said: “We are pleased to work with our partners at Entergy to bring the largest solar energy center in Arkansas online.
“This solar energy project will provide millions of dollars in additional tax revenue to Arkansas County and will generate cost-effective, home-grown solar energy for Entergy customers for years to come.”
The facility has more than 350,000 photovoltaic solar panels that convert sun’s energy into electricity. Electricity generated from the solar plant is enough to power more than 13,000 homes in the region.
One of NextEra Energy Resources’ subsidiaries has built the facility and will own and operate it. Electricity generated from the solar plant will be supplied to Entergy Arkansas for 20 years under a power purchase agreement (PPA).
Entergy Arkansas president and CEO Rick Riley said: “Over our 105 years in business, Entergy Arkansas has generated power with sawdust, water, coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear, and now the sun.
“Through this investment with NextEra Energy Resources, we are further diversifying our power generation resource mix and providing Entergy Arkansas customers with access to additional clean, renewable and affordable energy.”
The solar plant, over its operational life time, is expected to generate about $8m in additional revenues to Arkansas County, where most of the funds will be used for helping the public schools in the county.
Arkansas-based Entergy Arkansas is a subsidiary of Entergy and serves about 700,000 customers across 63 counties in the state. The parent company has 30GW of electricity generation capacity.