A coal plant in Texas will quickly transition right into a photo voltaic + storage facility to offer clear renewable power to 47 rural South Texas counties.
San Miguel Electrical Cooperative Inc. (SMECI) has been awarded a greater than $1.4 billion funding by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Utilities Service (RUS) program, which gives grants and low-interest loans to develop power that prioritizes greenhouse fuel reductions. The Empowering Rural America (New ERA) program is obtainable by means of the Inflation Discount Act.
“USDA is dedicated to enhancing the standard of life and enhancing air and water in our rural communities,” mentioned Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “The Inflation Discount Act’s historic investments allow USDA to associate with rural electrical cooperatives to strengthen America’s power safety and decrease electrical energy payments for hardworking households, farmers and small enterprise house owners.”
San Miguel is a not-for-profit technology and transmission rural electrical cooperative positioned in Atascosa County, Texas, that operates a mine-mouth lignite-fired energy plant. New ERA program funding will help SMECI in changing its lignite operations to a 400-MW photo voltaic and 200-MW battery storage facility.
“The USDA funding represents a brand new period for the San Miguel Electrical Cooperative, which has lengthy been the spine of electrical technology for generations of South Texans,” mentioned Craig Courter, Basic Supervisor and CEO. “New ERA program funding will enable us to nearly get rid of our greenhouse fuel emissions, whereas persevering with to offer inexpensive and dependable energy to rural South Texans.”
SMECI, which started business operation in 1982, at present produces 391 MW of electrical energy by means of a wholesale energy contract with South Texas Electrical Cooperative (STEC), which, in flip, provides energy to its distribution cooperative members who present retail service to greater than 340,000 rural Texas clients. As SMECI converts from lignite to photo voltaic, it can enter into a brand new wholesale energy contract with STEC to produce the output of the proposed photo voltaic and battery storage facility, which is predicted to be operational by 2027.
SMECI will use a part of the New ERA funding to refinance debt from its stranded lignite infrastructure. The conversion is not going to have an effect on SMECI’s ongoing mine reclamation program, which is secured by bonds that won’t be launched till regulators have decided that the mine reclamation is full.
Reclamation is an important a part of a mining operation’s tradition and – for SMECI – a ardour. The cooperative works carefully with its landowners to revive mined land to their most popular specs. This could embrace pastureland, which makes use of vegetation, akin to grasses, to offer feed advantages to ranch animals and construct soil stability.
“San Miguel will proceed to be an integral a part of the power wants of the South Texas communities now we have served since 1982,” mentioned Courter. “With this conversion, we look ahead to many extra years of offering power at an inexpensive charge in a state that continues to develop at an unprecedented tempo.”
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