Home » Kentucky’s first utility-scale, solar powered project gets OK

Kentucky’s first utility-scale, solar powered project gets OK

KU, LG&E to build 10-megawatt array at plant in Mercer County

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Dec. 22, 2014) – The Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) has approved the construction of the state’s first major solar powered electric generating facility.

LG&E and KU’s E.W. Brown Plant in Harrodsburg utilizes three generations of electricity-producing processes – a hydroelectric plant, three fossil-fueled generating units and seven combustion turbines. The three coal-fired generators can produce 749 megawatts of electricity, more than one-fifth of KU’s total capacity. An average of 1.5 million tons of coal is burned annually at E.W. Brown Station.
LG&E and KU’s E.W. Brown Plant in Harrodsburg utilizes three generations of electricity-producing processes – a hydroelectric plant, three fossil-fueled generating units and seven combustion turbines. The three coal-fired generators can produce 749 megawatts of electricity, more than one-fifth of KU’s total capacity. An average of 1.5 million tons of coal is burned annually at E.W. Brown Station.

In an order issued Friday, Dec. 19, the PSC authorized Kentucky Utilities Co. (KU) and Louisville Gas & Electric Co. (LG&E) to build a 10-megawatt photovoltaic solar array at the E.W. Brown Generating Station in Mercer County. A megawatt of generating capacity produces enough power to supply about 800 average homes.

Friday’s order approves an agreement reached by the two utilities and two other parties to the case: the Sierra Club, and Kentucky Industrial Utility Customers Inc. The PSC found the agreement to be consistent with its own analysis of the case. The Kentucky Office of Attorney General was a party to the case but did not sign the agreement.

KU and LG&E originally had sought approval to construct both the solar array and a 670-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant, to be built in Muhlenberg County. The latter project was canceled after nine municipalities that purchase wholesale power from KU decided to allow their contracts to expire over the next five years, reducing the utility’s load by about 325 megawatts.

Although the loss of the municipal customers made the gas-fired power plant unnecessary, KU and LG&E stated that some new generating capacity would be needed to maintain adequate reserves. The solar plant would meet that need while providing insurance against both potential increases in the cost of fossil fuels and future constraints on carbon dioxide (CO2), the utilities said.

The $36 million cost of the solar array will have a “relatively minor” impact on rates, the PSC said. The relatively higher initial investment required for the solar power project will be partly offset by tax credits and other factors, the PSC said.

The PSC agreed with KU and LG&E that adding solar powered capacity now will help prepare for any future requirements to reduce CO2 emissions produced by burning fossil fuels and “has the ability to reduce potential future CO2 compliance costs,” the PSC said.

The solar array will be built on a 153-acre parcel owned by KU just south of the E.W. Brown power plant. The array will consist of about 260 solar panels and associated transformers, switches and other equipment.

KU will own 61 percent of the solar array and LG&E the remaining 39 percent – a split based upon the relative load of the two utilities during daylight hours. The E.W. Brown plant also has coal-fired and gas-fired units owned by KU.

KU and LG&E are both subsidiaries of PPL Corp. LG&E has 397,000 electric customers in the Louisville area. KU serves 543,000 customers in 77 Kentucky counties.