Staff Writer
Silence is power.
That phrase was evident at the official dedication of a solar farm, PSEG Jacksonville Solar, in Baldwin that will serve JEA customers for at least the next 30 years with “clean” and quiet electricity.
“There were no mandates on JEA to do this,” said Jim Dickenson, JEA CEO and managing director. “We did it because we wanted firsthand experience on how this plant operates, so we can evaluate how much more we wanted to do.”
JEA partnered with juwi solar Inc., a Boulder, Colo.-based developer and turnkey installer of solar power plants, and Public Service Enterprise Group to create the farm of 200,000 solar panels on 100 acres of JEA land.
The engineering, procurement, selection of construction contractors and development responsibilities were awarded to juwi solar Inc., and it hired J.B. Coxwell Contracting Inc. and Miller Electric Co. for the construction of the facilities.
PSEG is the owner of the plant from which JEA will purchase the electricity.
“This was a great opportunity for us to get involved with a partner who showed some progressive thinking in regards to energy needs,” said Ralph Izzo, PSEG chair, president and CEO.
“There isn’t regulation that requires this type of facility in Florida like there is in the North. The JEA is very forward-thinking in wanting to get involved in this energy source,” he said.
PSEG is based in Newark, N.J., and is currently the fourth largest owner of solar facilities in the United States. The Baldwin facility is the largest solar installation owned by PSEG and its most Southern installation.
“The partnership also gives us the opportunity to pursue the development of additional facilities throughout the South,” said Izzo.
PSEG representatives cited the attractive business environment in Jacksonville as one of the reasons it chose to get involved in the project.
“Why did we choose Jacksonville?” said PSEG Vice President of Renewables Diana Drysdale.
“Three reasons. One, we have a great partner in JEA. Two, plenty of sunshine to make the project feasible. Three, Jacksonville provides a very supportive business environment,” she said.
The farm is wired into JEA’s power grid and can provide more than 12,000 homes with emissions-free electricity on a sunny day. JEA projects the solar farm will help it avoid 22,430 tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually.
For comparison, an adult male elephant weighs about 6 tons.
JEA estimated the facility created more than 100 jobs and about 140 indirect jobs during construction. Jobs were also created for project operation and maintenance.
“We would like to do more projects in Jacksonville,” said Drysdale. “It’s a great business environment and the area also produces a cheaper price per megawatt hour.”
The “clean” energy isn’t the only benefit to the environment from the project. The farm uses thin-film cadmium telluride solar modules, which have been reported to lower costs and environmental impacts compared to crystalline silicon modules.
The facility started construction in October and began delivery of electricity in May.
The solar farm requires no water and it was built using low-impact construction techniques that preserve most of the topsoil and allow the facility to easily revert to farmland or another use after the project’s useful life. The land was used for grazing before the project.
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