Indiana Michigan Power breaks ground on its first solar PV plant

 

Utility Indiana Michigan Power (I&M, Fort Wayne, IN, U.S.), an operating unit of American Electric Power, on June 6^th, 2016 held a groundbreaking ceremony for its first solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant in Michigan, on a 35-acre site just east of Watervliet.

I&M contracted with First Solar Inc. to build the three Michiana area plants.

The Watervliet solar plant will have more than 50,000 PV panels and generate up to 4.6 megawatts (MW) of solar power. The facility is expected to generate energy equivalent to powering about 650 homes annually.

“I&M is pleased to add solar power to our fleet of emission-free generation sources in Michigan,” said Paul Chodak III, President and Chief Operating Officer of I&M.

“Four decades after our Cook Nuclear Plant began generating carbon-free energy in Michigan, this solar power plant is part of a pilot project that will play a significant role in I&M’s use of the sun to provide energy. I&M already uses wind, water and nuclear energy to generate half of our power, and solar is yet another emission-free energy source.”

The Watervliet plant is one of four solar PV plants in I&M’s Clean Energy Solar Pilot Project. The Deer Creek plant near Marion, Indiana, has been operational since late in 2015.

Construction has already begun at the Twin Branch and Olive plants, both in St. Joseph County, Indiana. All three of the Michiana solar plants will be generating energy for customers by the end of 2016.

Together, the four plants will have the capacity to generate about 15 megawatts of solar power and have the ability to power the equivalent of 2,000 homes
source: http://www.solarserver.com