A Chicago-based renewable energy company is developing its first solar farm project in the Memphis area — and it's to supply power to a tech giant's data center.
Invenergy is looking to build a large solar farm in Yum Yum, Tennessee, an unincorporated community in Fayette County.
Ben Lambrecht, senior analyst of strategic communications for Invenergy, said the company's solar panels would cover roughly 1,500 acres of privately leased land. Yum Yum Solar would then generate 147 megawatts of sustainable energy, enough to power around 30,000 homes.
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has entered into a power purchase agreement with Yum Yum Solar LLC to purchase the power generated by the proposed project. The TVA is currently receiving public input on its environmental assessment for the project, which evaluates the anticipated environmental impacts of the construction and operation of the solar generating facility and associated electrical connection.
According to Lambrecht, Yum Yum Solar has a contract with the TVA for the purpose of supplying Google with low-cost, sustainable energy. Google is reportedly building two new, energy-efficient Google data center campuses in Tennessee and another in northern Alabama. In the years ahead, Google will purchase the output of several new solar farms as part of the deal with the TVA, totaling 413 megawatts of power from 1.6 million solar panels.
The Yum Yum solar farm along with a solar farm in Hollywood, Alabama, will be regarded among the largest renewable energy projects in the Tennessee Valley region and the largest solar farms ever to be built for Google.
Fayette County Mayor Skip Taylor said the Yum Yum solar farm project is currently making its way through the county's planning process. There has been one hearing on it and a second will occur in October. Fayette County passed an ordinance in 2017 to provide guidelines for solar development.
"We are confident that we meet all regulatory requirements that apply to our project," Lambrecht said. "Invenergy develops solar projects where there is a strong solar resource, the ability to connect to the electric grid, a demand for power, and most importantly, supportive landowners and communities interested in the project. We look forward to continuing to build a strong partnership with Fayette County and deliver the project's benefits to the community and to Tennessee."
Lambrecht said once the project is fully permitted, construction is expected to begin in the summer of 2020 and should be operational by the end of 2021.
He also noted that the Yum Yum solar farm would diversify the Fayette County economy by bringing a new source of stable income to landowners, new tax payments to the county, and create construction jobs and local permanent operations jobs.
"During the year-and-a-half construction period, the project is estimated to generate $6.8 million in new local earnings and support up to 200 new jobs," Lambrecht said. "Over the life of the project, Yum Yum Solar will generate an estimated $2.2 million in new property tax revenue over the life of the project and will create a handful of permanent jobs.
Invenergy's projects invest more than $160 million in wages and benefits, lease payments, and state and local taxes each year in the communities where the company has projects, according to Lambrecht.
"Invenergy doesn't just build sustainable energy projects; we grow economies along the way," he said.
Invenergy, a leading privately held, global developer and operator of sustainable energy solutions, was founded in 2001 and has developed more than 150 sustainable energy projects.