Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative (MEC) is pleased to announce that its power supplier, Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC), has entered a partnership with EDF Renewables North America to develop and build a 30-megawatt portfolio of distributed solar projects across the service territories of ODEC members in Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. The projects are intended to bring local solar energy to the communities of MEC and ten other electric cooperatives in the three-state region while at the same time providing regional and energy diversification to ODEC’s generation portfolio. ODEC will purchase the power output from the projects and provide cost-effective renewable energy to its members including MEC.
EDF Renewables was chosen as ODEC’s partner through a competitive RFP (request for proposal) process which was led and managed by the National Renewables Cooperative Organization Inc. (NRCO). Under the agreement, EDF Renewables will be responsible for the development of the prospective sites including all permitting requirements and approvals as well as the design, engineering, and commissioning of the solar projects. The projects are expected to be operational from mid-2020 through 2021.
“EDF Renewables is excited about our partnership with ODEC. We applaud ODEC and NRCO for pursuing a large distributed generation portfolio for ODEC’s members. EDF Renewables is a strong advocate of local solar energy, and we continue to show that distributed generation portfolios can be a competitive option for cooperatives and utilities to consider when choosing to go solar,” says Myles Burnsed, vice president of strategic developments of EDF Renewables.
“ODEC looks forward to this partnership and the opportunity to continue to grow our solar generation,” says Marcus Harris, president and CEO of ODEC. “Our cooperative is dedicated to expanding renewable energy generation as part of our commitment to providing our member-owners with affordable, reliable, and sustainable power.”
MEC President and CEO John Lee, Jr., is vice chairman of the ODEC board of directors and also serves on its power supply committee. He comments, “Competitively priced solar energy presents a legitimate opportunity to continue growing our generation portfolio’s renewable energy resources. ODEC’s directors strive to make power supply decisions that strike an appropriate balance between being sensitive to the environment and being affordable for our members…solar hits that mark.”
“NRCO is pleased to work with ODEC and EDF Renewables to help facilitate the purchase of competitively priced solar energy for ODEC’s members,” says Amadou Fall, CEO of NRCO. “These distributed solar projects demonstrate ODEC’s strategic goal of bringing locally sourced renewable energy to its cooperative members. NRCO applauds ODEC’s leadership in working with its member distribution cooperatives to deploy these distributed solar facilities.”