Lightsource bp has commenced commercial operations at the 135 MW Conway Solar at Happy project in White County, Arkansas, US. The solar farm is situated on 700 acres near the village of Happy, Arkansas, and is 88.5 km from the state capital, Little Rock. Overall, the project will provide enough sustainable energy to power 21,000 US homes. More than 162,800 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions can be mitigated annually by the solar farm.
Moreover, the company has planned to provide the solar farm’s power to Conway Corp., a Conway city-owned utility, under a 20-year power purchase agreement. The company committed $125 million to the project’s development and construction. A group of institutions led by HSBC Bank USA, ING Capital, Intesa Sanpaolo, the National Association, NatWest, Société Générale, and Standard Chartered Bank supplied the debt arrangement.
Reportedly, Orbital Energy’s subsidiary Gibson Technical Services was finalised as the EPC contractor for the project. Furthermore, 295,000 solar modules from First Solar and advanced solar trackers from Array Technologies operate the project. During the development phase, 300 local job opportunities emerged in total.
