Santee Cooper and North Carolina Renewable Energy LLC (NCRE) announced a purchase power agreement that adds 75 megawatts (MW) of renewable solar power to Santee Cooper’s generation mix.

“Renewable generation is part of our long-term commitment to environmental stewardship,” said Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Marc Tye. “As we’ve said, we are committed to new renewable energy projects that make sense for our customers. This is a perfect example of that.”

The 75 MW Centerfield Cooper Solar Farm will sit on approximately 800 acres in Chesterfield, S.C. and is being developed by NCRE. Construction is expected to begin in August 2019. The solar farm is projected to be online and producing electricity in May 2020.

“We’re excited about completing this phase of the negotiations with Santee Cooper and are looking forward to helping bring more renewable energy to South Carolina and Santee Cooper customers,” said Frank Dekker, managing partner at NCRE.

Santee Cooper currently has 107 MW of renewable energy online or under contract. The utility is utilizing renewable resources that are cost-efficient and partners with others to bring costs down. Most of that renewable power is wood-waste biomass or landfill gas generation.

The utility has nine additional solar projects in the state:

• 311-kW (dc) Grand Strand Solar Station in Myrtle Beach
• 16-kW (dc) display at Coastal Carolina University in Conway (the first Green Power site dedicated in South Carolina)
• 20-kW (dc) displays at the Center for Hydrogen Research in Aiken 
• 20-kW (dc) displays at the Technical College of the Lowcountry in Bluffton
• 8-kW (dc) system at York Electric Cooperative's office in Fort Mill
• 4-kW (dc) system at Center for Advanced Technical Studies in Chapin SC
• 3-MW (dc) Colleton Solar Farm in Walterboro
• 1.6-MW (ac) Bell Bay Solar Farm in Bucksville 
• 1.2-MW (ac) Jamison Solar Farm in Orangeburg