Late Monday afternoon, 4 Rivers Electric Cooperative will officially “flip the switch” on its brand-new sun farm.
The 1-megawatt solar facility at the Americus substation has actually been producing power for over a month, and General Manager Dennis Svanes says it’s designed to provide energy during peak usage time periods.
Svanes says 4 Rivers is exploring additional capacity, but there are certain “complexities” to resolve before the utility moves forward in that regard.
Over 3,500 solar panels have been installed at both facilities, each generating 400 watts of power. The Americus substation can send solar-generated power to the Thunderbird substation just west of Emporia if needed.
4 Rivers and other electric cooperatives are partnering with Today’s Power out of Arkansas to produce 20 megawatts of energy as part of this project, which was announced last fall.
The ceremony is at 4:30 pm and involves 4 Rivers’ sun farms at its Americus and Fredonia substations, so both will be featured. The Facebook Live event will include videos of both facilities and brief discussions of how they help the utility and its customers.
