{"id":80433,"date":"2025-02-12T18:44:30","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T23:44:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=80433"},"modified":"2025-02-12T18:44:30","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T23:44:30","slug":"17-clean-energy-projects-appalachian-coal-mines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=80433","title":{"rendered":"17 clean energy projects will be built on former Appalachian coal mines"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\"Appalachian
\n\t\t\t\tPhoto: The Nature Conservancy\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Nature Conservancy (TNC<\/a>) and the Cumberland Forest Limited Partnership<\/a> are turning former Appalachian coal mines into clean energy hubs. They just announced new agreements with Sun Tribe Development and ENGIE to build 14 solar farms and three battery storage systems across 360 acres in Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This marks the second round of clean energy projects launched under TNC\u2019s Cumberland Forest Project.<\/p>\n

These projects aren\u2019t just about clean energy \u2013 they\u2019re about proving that clean energy can be developed on former Appalachian coal mines in a way that benefits the environment and local communities. The solar and storage hubs are expected to bring in more local tax revenue, create short-term construction jobs, and establish a community fund to support additional local initiatives.<\/p>\n

Brad Kreps, TNC Clinch Valley director, said, \u201cDeveloping projects on former coal mines \u2013 and in a way that engages with people in the local area so that communities can benefit \u2013 takes ingenuity, skill, and determination. Ultimately, we selected Sun Tribe and ENGIE, two experienced developers that have a great interest in bringing this vision to life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once online, these projects will generate around 49 megawatts (MW) of solar energy and 320 MW of battery storage \u2013 enough to power 6,638 Appalachian homes annually.<\/p>\n

Sun Tribe\u2019s projects will be in Virginia and Tennessee. It\u2019s planning one 5 MW solar project and three utility-scale battery storage systems ranging from 80 MW to 150 MW. These storage projects will improve grid reliability and help cut costs for utility customers by reducing the need for future grid upgrades.<\/p>\n

\u201cLocating solar and battery storage on former mine lands makes perfect sense to us,\u201d said Danny Van Clief, CEO of Sun Tribe Development. \u201cThese sites and the communities they rest within have powered our country for more than a century \u2013 all we have to do is reimagine them for today\u2019s energy technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

ENGIE, meanwhile, is developing 13 community-scale solar projects across Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky that will take advantage of Inflation Reduction Act incentives to help keep costs down. They\u2019ll range in size from 1 MW to 6 MW, bringing clean energy access to more local communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cENGIE is thrilled to collaborate on the development of these projects with The Nature Conservancy,\u201d says Kristen Fornes, ENGIE head of distributed solar and storage. \u201cThese initiatives not only contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions but also generate employment opportunities, rejuvenate local communities, and enhance access to clean energy in areas where it is most needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

This latest announcement builds on previous first-round work by TNC, Sun Tribe, and Dominion Energy to bring renewable energy to Appalachia. Since 2021, Sun Tribe and Dominion Energy have been working on plans to generate 140 MW of renewable energy across eight sites in the Cumberland Forest. The first project, Wildcats Solar, is a 10 MW array planned for Wise County, Virginia. Expected to start construction by 2026, it\u2019s projected to generate $800,000 in tax revenue for the community over its lifetime. Additional projects from the first round are set to be online by 2029.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

Read more:<\/strong> Renewables provided 90% of new US capacity in 2024 \u2013\u00a0FERC<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

If you live in an area that has frequent natural disaster events, and are interested in making your home more resilient to power outages, consider going solar and adding a battery storage system. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out <\/em>EnergySage<\/em><\/a>, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it\u2019s free to use and you won\u2019t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.<\/em><\/p>\n

Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you\u2019ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started <\/em>here<\/em><\/a>. \u2013trusted affiliate link*<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.<\/em> More.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo: The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Cumberland Forest Limited Partnership are turning former Appalachian coal mines into clean energy hubs. They just announced new agreements with Sun Tribe Development and ENGIE to build 14 solar farms and three battery storage systems across 360 acres in Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. This marks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-cars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=80433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=80433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=80433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=80433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}