Dec 1 2009
CPV Renewable Energy Company (CPV REC) today announced plans for a 10 megawatt (MW) solar farm in southern Maryland to be co-located with the proposed natural gas combined-cycle CPV St. Charles Energy Center. The announcement was made today as part of American Community Properties Trust (ACPT) 9,100 acre planned "Model Green City" in Charles County.
Named the CPV Piney Reach Solar Farm, the planned facility will begin permitting immediately and is expected to be in service by 2012. The solar farm will employ arrays of photovoltaic panels to turn sunlight directly into clean electricity. The project is the largest of its kind announced in the state.
Co-locating the solar farm with a natural gas generator represents a new "hybrid" approach to electricity generation being developed by CPV. This approach marries the environmental attributes of renewable electricity production with the controlability and low emissions rates of natural gas generation to yield clean, low-emission electricity that is available whenever the public demands.
"We are extremely excited to be bringing this solar project to the people of Maryland in conjunction with our CPV St. Charles Energy Center," said Competitive Power Ventures Chairman and CEO Doug Egan. "We believe this combination of renewable generation with natural gas generation will be the wave of the future and Maryland is on the cutting edge."
The project will also start Maryland on its way toward achieving its aggressive renewable portfolio standard goal of installing 1,500 megawatts of solar by 2022.