Solar farm in Smyrna is latest project by Delaware Municipal Electric Corp. to push renewables
Jerry Smith
In its first month of operation, the newest utility-scale solar array in Delaware can measure its impact in two ways.
First, the reduction in greenhouse gas pollution is the same as having 56 fewer cars on the road each year, according to the Delaware Municipal Electric Corp.
Second, the power generated so far by the Smyrna Solar Facility is the same as burning 288,000 pounds of coal.
The array also helps push Delaware toward a goal of having 3.5 percent of its energy coming from solar sources by 2025.
The $3.9 million Smyrna array commissioned by the Delaware Municipal Electric Corp. and the Town of Smyrna, has generated more than 354,000 kWh of electricity.
It is designed to deliver 1.5 megawatts of electric energy to residents and businesses in Smyrna. That is enough to power an average of 158 homes in Smyrna for an entire year, DEMEC officials said.
The facility, located on Artisan Drive, benefits both the town and DEMEC's push to be the top producer of renewable energy in the state while also being one of the smallest power companies in Delaware, according to the utility provider.
The cost of the new solar facility will not impact rates for Smyrna customers, company officials said.
"We are looking at the ideal combination of a facility that works for the Town of Smyrna and a cost of that facility that was not unduly burdensome on the ratepayers," said DEMEC President and CEO Patrick McCullar. "We’ve arrived at a solar project that doesn't increase the cost at all to DEMEC’s customers."
The utility's latest solar project brings its total solar generation to over 26 megawatts; making it the generator of over 50 percent of the state's total solar power.
It comes at the request of customers, McCullar said.
"As part of our long-term strategic plan, we had decided that deploying renewable energy in our communities was both in our own interest as a utility and in the interest of our communities," the CEO said.
DEMEC provides power to nine communities, including Newark, New Castle and Middletown in New Castle County; Clayton, Dover and Smyrna in Kent County; and Milford, Lewes and Seaford in Sussex County.
In four of those communities, DEMEC has built solar facilities that power 24,000 homes, or one-third of all of the homes in its service territory.
The largest solar facility in the electric company's portfolio is the 90-acre Milford Solar Farm, which uses 62,000 panels to generate 15 MW of energy, enough to light 9,000 homes.
Other DEMEC solar arrays are in Newark, Dover and Seaford.
With over 90 megawatts of sustainable generation, DEMEC officials say the company is able to reduce 153,000 metric tons of emissions every year. That's the same as taking 32,000 cars off the road.
McCullar said as the cost of solar continues to decline – 53 percent during the last five years, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association – the electric company will look to invest in solar facilities in its other five communities.
"The feedback we were receiving from our community members drove the pace of investment," McCullar said. The declining cost of solar will make it easier to invest capital in other solar projects, he said.
McCullar said the company is evaluating a number of potential sites for the next solar array project. It takes around two years to develop a site, he said.
Smyrna Town Manager Gary Stulir said the town on its own couldn't afford to build the facility, nor did its employees have the skill set to do it.
Stulir said the 14 acres of undevelopable land donated by the town, and financial support and solar expertise by the electric company, American Municipal Power and NextEra Energy Resources, had been talked about since 2014.
"Not one of those individual parties could have completed this project themselves," he said.
In 2013, DEMEC member communities joined Delaware's statewide initiative to increase the number of renewable energy sources used to generate electricity in Delaware.
The Renewable Portfolio Standard was established in 2005 with the goal of 10 percent renewable energy in Delaware’s electricity fuel mix by 2020.
That goal was increased to 20 percent by 2020 and increased again in 2009 to 25 percent renewable by 2025, with 3.5 percent coming specifically from solar generation resources.
McCullar said his electric company started deploying renewable energy in 2000.
A spokesperson for the Delaware Public Service Commission said it does not regulate municipal electric companies or measure their compliance with the portfolio standard.
According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, Delaware is on its way to meeting the goals set in the portfolio standard, with 1.54 percent of the state's electricity now coming from solar.
The solar association reports that there are 13,000 Delaware homes powered by solar, with installations totaling 115.1 megawatts.
Total solar investments in the state have reached $344.12 million, with a $45.28 million investment in 2017 alone, the association said.
McCullar sees constant growth in solar energy during the next decade. He believes the state is on pace to meet or surpass the portfolio goals.
"There will be a steady, continued investment in solar generation within the state of Delaware," he said. "A lot of that has to to do with economics, which are favorable. We'll certainly do our part."
Reach Jerry Smith at jsmith17@delawareonline.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JerrySmithTNJ.
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