New solar farm coming to Chesterfield

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Santee Cooper and North Carolina Renewable Energy LLC have reached a purchase power agreement to add a new solar farm to the state-owned utility’s portfolio.

The 75-megawatt Centerfield Cooper Solar Farm will be located on 800 acres in Chesterfield and is being developed by NCRE. Construction is expected to begin in August, with the farm projected to begin producing electricity in May 2020.

“Renewable generation is part of our long-term commitment to environmental stewardship,” Santee Cooper executive vice president and COO Marc Tye said in a news release. “As we’ve said, we are committed to new renewable energy projects that make sense for our customers. This is a perfect example of that.”

Santee Cooper currently has 107 MW of renewable energy online or under contract.

“We’re excited about completing this phase of the negotiations with Santee Cooper and are looking forward to helping bring more renewable energy to South Carolina and Santee Cooper customers,” Frank Dekker, managing partner at NCRE, said.

Santee Cooper has nine additional solar projects in the state, including the 311-kilowatt Grand Strand Solar Station in Myrtle Beach, a 4-kW system at the Center for Advanced Technical Studies in Chapin and the 1.2-MW Jamison Solar Farm in Orangeburg.