WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Duke Energy will lease a 1,000-megawatt solar power plant in Chambers County to the Purdue Research Foundation. After months of construction, the first phase of a $2.5 million 100 MW solar plant in partnership with Alabama Power is underway in Ambers County. West Lafayette, Ind. " Duke Energy is building its first 100 MW solar plant in West Lafayette.
The plant, which will have about 7,000 solar panels, is expected to supply energy for more than 30 years. The solar garden will supply Lafayette with about 1,500 megawatts of solar-generated electricity annually. This plant has about 8.5 million square meters of surface area in its solar gardens and the plant is expected to supply energy for more than 30 decades. It will be the largest solar plant in the United States and one of the largest in the world.
Emergent Solar is committed to bringing renewable energy to the communities it serves and helping organizations achieve their energy independence to achieve their sustainability and governance goals. At capacity, the two solar gardens will produce more than 1,500 megawatts of electricity per year, enough to power about 1 million homes. This is a great example of green locals building fuel - free solar energy that will serve the community for decades to come, "said Jim Welch, CEO of Bella Energy. The project was made possible by the generous support of the City of Lafayette and the Lafayette Community Foundation.
Bella Energy, one of the largest electric utilities in the state of Indiana with more than 1,500 megawatts of its own electricity capacity, supplies more than 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, making it Indiana's largest utility. The company provides solar solutions through its subsidiary Emergent Solar, Inc., in Lafayette, Indiana, and in other Indiana cities and communities. Bella Energy and its parent company, Bella Power, LLC, provide more than 100% of their own electricity capacity, making them Indiana's "largest" utility, according to its website.
NIPSCO wants to close most of its coal-fired power plants by 2023 and has announced plans to promote more renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. Since 2012, Indiana consumers have consumed more electricity from renewable sources each year than the state's generators provide. The housing sector, where 3 in 10 households use Indiana's electricity, accounts for a third of the state's consumption. Solar panels generate enough electricity annually to supply 230 average households with zero-carbon energy. If Indiana does not add new wind capacity in the fourth quarter of 2018, Illinois will have 5,659 MW of installed wind, while Indiana has 2,317 MW, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and Illinois has 2.5 million MW of installed wind.
Davis said pollinator and solar power is just one example of how the spread of solar power could be used to promote other environmentally friendly practices. Overall, Macknick said, he believes low-impact solar energy will be an important part of Indiana's energy future, as farmers and landowners can appreciate the benefits of solar energy while helping state agencies protect wildlife.
Solar panels have come a long way in this respect, especially in the last decade. In the solar sector, IRENA found that the cost of electricity from utilities fell by 82 percent in the ten years from 2010 to 2019. The cost of solar and wind energy also fell by 13 and 9 percent year-on-year, respectively.
Duke Energy Indiana, which in 2018 operated nearly 90% of its coal production in Indiana, owns more coal-fired power plants than any other utility in the state. The state's leading power producers, including Indiana Power & Light, Indiana Electric Power Company, and Duke Energy, are on the verge of installing significant amounts of new solar capacity, but still own a significant portion of their coal-fired plants.
In October 2019, NIPSCO and EDP Renewables North America signed a build transfer agreement that will include 302 MW of solar capacity and is scheduled to be connected to the grid in 2021. Wayne Enterprises contracted Emergent Solar Energy to design and build a solar project at Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette. The project was completed in April by the Indiana Company, based at Purdue Research Park in East Lafayette, and the company is expanding solar projects in development in response to the state's new solar targets, which include a $1.2 billion investment in renewable energy projects over the next decade.
Duke Energy will build and operate the Tippecanoe County Solar Power Plant, named after the county's first solar power plant - in the US, Duke Energy, the largest renewable energy provider, will produce enough carbon-free energy to power 240 average homes.
The city of Lafayette will also contribute land for the solar garden, which will allow production to be donated free of charge to low-income subscribers who use solar gardens. In addition to producing green electricity, the city and Lafayette are also helping to develop a $1.5 million solar farm in Lafayette, Indiana, as part of the city's commitment to renewable energy.
