Amazon seals Accomack solar power deal
A large solar energy project already planned for northern Accomack County now will be named Amazon Solar Farm US East.
Amazon Web Services, Inc., an Amazon.com company that provides businesses with access to cloud computing technology, announced it has teamed with the project's developer, Community Energy, Inc. of Radnor, Pennsylvania, in a long-term power purchase agreement.
Energy generated by the $150 million, 80-megawatt Accomack facility will go into the electrical grids that supply current and future AWS Cloud data centers.
The facility will be the largest solar farm in Virginia and among the largest in the eastern United States.
"We are pleased to work with Amazon Web Services to build the largest solar farm in Virginia and one of the largest east of the Mississippi," said Community Energy Chief Executive Officer Brent Alderfer, adding, "This project, which wouldn't have been possible without AWS' leadership, helps accelerate the commercialization and deployment of solar photovoltaic technologies at scale in Virginia."
The agreement is one step toward fulfilling a commitment Amazon Web Services made last year to use renewable energy to power its servers.
The company got a failing grade in an April 2014 Greenpeace report on Internet companies' energy use. The report said, "Amazon Web Services (AWS), which provides the infrastructure for a significant part of the Internet, remains among the dirtiest and least transparent companies in the sector, far behind its major competitors, with zero reporting of its energy or environmental footprint to any source or stakeholder."
Non-profit environmental organization Green America also has started a campaign calling on Amazon Web Services to shift to clean energy and to be more transparent about its energy use.
Amazon Web Services in November 2014 committed to 100 percent renewable energy usage.
By April 2015, the company announced about 25 percent of its global power consumption was coming from renewable sources. It has a goal of 40 percent by the end of 2016, which the agreement to purchase power from the Accomack facility should help it reach.
"We continue to make significant progress towards our long-term commitment to power the global AWS infrastructure with 100 percent renewable energy," said Amazon Web Services Vice President of Infrastructure Jerry Hunter.
Last month, a group of 19 customers of Amazon Web Services, including The Huffington Post, Tumblr and change.org, among others, wrote a letter to Amazon.com Senior Vice President of Web Services Andrew Jassy commending the company's commitment to renewable energy but asking the company to take additional steps towards transparency "that will give us full confidence in AWS' commitment to renewable energy, which we can relay to our users, customers, employees and other stakeholders" — including publishing information describing its energy and carbon footprints and progress toward renewable energy goals; sharing the company's strategies to increase the renewable electricity supply across its footprint; and providing clarity on how it defines renewable energy.
Governor Terry McAuliffe said about AWS' announcement, "Amazon's new solar project will create good jobs on the Eastern Shore and generate more clean, renewable energy to fuel the new Virginia economy. I look forward to working with Amazon and Accomack to get this project online as we continue our efforts to make Virginia a global leader in the renewable energy sector."
Accomack County officials in January 2015 approved a conditional use permit and rezoning to accommodate the project.
Construction is to begin late this year and the facility is expected to start generating power as soon as fall 2016, according to a release from Amazon Web Services.
Once up and running, it will generate enough electricity each year to power about 15,000 homes.
The power purchase agreement with Community Energy is similar to one Amazon made in January 2015 for a wind farm in Benton County, Indiana.
That facility is now called Amazon Wind Farm.
Amazon Solar Farm US East will be located on about 1,000 acres near Oak Hall and will cost up to $150 million to construct.
Plans include four sub-projects involving a total of 44 properties owned by seven different owners, who will lease the land in a 30-year arrangement.
Community Energy also said it will install an educational "solar walk" at the facility and will provide the county with $100,000 of solar equipment for its use.
Additionally, it will give Accomack County $100,000 to help clean up derelict properties.
The project will create four full-time electrical technician jobs and another eight or so grounds keeping jobs, in addition to jobs during construction, Community Energy official Tuffey said at a hearing in January.
About $100,000 more a year in local tax revenue should come to the county because real estate taxes paid by the landowners will be about six times higher than when the land was in agricultural use, Accomack County Planning Director Rich Morrison said.
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