Ecoplexus Inc. announced today that it has begun construction on three more ground-mounted installations in North Carolina. The Baker, Benthall Bridge, and Turkey Creek Solar Parks represent a combined investment of more than $45 million. These facilities will be interconnected into Dominion North Carolina Power's electrical grid, increasing the capacity of clean energy the utility has to distribute around the state. This will be an essential addition to the state's power supply after Hurricane Matthew swept along the East Coast on October 7th and 8th, leaving almost 100,000 people without power. Despite the hurricane's best efforts to delay construction, all three solar projects are on schedule to be completed by the end of the year. Two of the three projects will be added to Ecoplexus' growing IPP asset base and the third will be owned by a large US Utility with Ecoplexus providing ongoing asset management and operations and maintenance services for all the facilities.
These projects will provide 50 gigawatt-hours of clean electricity annually. That is enough to power 5,200 homes and prevent the carbon dioxide emission of roughly 4 million gallons of gasoline, in effect taking 7,500 passenger vehicles off the road.