Dominion Energy, a subsidiary of Richmond, VA-based Dominion Resources Inc. D has recently acquired an 80-megawatt ("MW") solar facility in Accomack County, VA, from the project's developer Community Energy, Inc. Construction work on this plant - Amazon Solar Farm U.S East - is expected to start by the end of 2015 while it is expected to be operational by fall 2016.
The long-term power purchase contract of Amazon Web Services (AWS) with the solar firm is in line with AWS' long-term objective to achieve 100% renewable energy usage on its electrical grid and around 40% by 2016-end. AWS is the cloud computing division of Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN).
Apart from the signing of an engineering, procurement and construction contract with an anonymous party, the company has entered interconnection deals with Delmarva Power.
Notably, this solar project is the first to be granted approval by Virginia's permit-by-rule process which issues bulk sanctions for the construction of renewable energy projects with capacities less than 100 MW. Further, the project is expected to qualify for the Investment Tax Credit.
Dominion Resources has emerged as a leader in this space with a large-scale renewable energy generation portfolio. Meanwhile, the company is looking to bolster its green assets in the next few years. Dominion Resources intends to and reach a total generating capacity of 425 MW by 2015-end.
Other Solar Projects
This October, Dominion Virginia Power, a regulated electric transmission and distribution franchise of Dominion Resources, filed for certificates of public convenience and necessity with the Virginia State Corporation Commission ("SCC") for three solar projects in Virginia counties . Construction of the recently acquired 20-MW solar facility in Kern County, Maricopa West project, is complete and is currently being tested before entering service.
In the third quarter, Dominion received a 10-year sales contract from The United States Navy to supply energy, generated from the 20-MW solar farm in North Carolina, to the Norfolk Naval Station. The Navy also has the option to extend the tenure of the contract by another 10 years.
Zacks Rank
Dominion Resources currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the same industry are Exelon Corporation EXC , Korea Electric Power Corp. KEP and Huaneng Power International, Inc. HNP , all three sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
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