The Commonwealth of Virginia, Microsoft and Dominion Virginia Power formed a partnership to construct a new facility and bring 20 MW of solar energy onto the grid in Virginia—enough energy to power 5,000 homes.
“This agreement is a tremendous step forward in our ongoing effort to make Virginia a leader in the renewable energy economy,” said Governor Terry McAuliffe. “This partnership will help lower carbon emissions in Virginia and diversify our energy portfolio, while growing the solar and data center industries in Virginia. This is a prime example of the type of creative thinking and public-private cooperation we need to build a new Virginia economy.”
“By investing in these projects and partnering with states and utilities, Microsoft can provide long-term certainty needed to expand the amount of renewable energy available on the grid,” said Rob Bernard, Chief Environmental Strategist, Microsoft. “We are pleased to play a role in this project, as it will bring new, additional clean energy onto the grid in Virginia.”
Dominion Virginia Power will construct the facility on land it already owns in Fauquier County, adjacent to its Remington generating station.
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“This forward-looking partnership will assist us in our continued commitment to increase the renewable energy available to serve our customers in Virginia,” said Thomas F. Farrell, II, Chairman, President and CEO of Dominion Resources. “Microsoft and the Commonwealth play key roles in making this large-scale solar project possible, and we look forward to working with them.”
The project is anticipated to be in service in late 2017, subject to regulatory approval.
Dominion committed to 400 MW of solar in Virginia by 2020. Microsoft has previously announced agreements to purchase 175 megawatts of wind energy in Illinois that fully powers their Chicago data center with wind energy and 110 MW of wind energy in Texas that powers their San Antonio data center.
— Solar Builder magazine
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