A Kentucky coal mine site would be converted into an 800-megawatt solar project recently announced by renewable energy developer BrightNight, Rivian Automotive and the Nature Conservancy.
The project will be located at the Starfire Mine, formerly one of the largest coal mines in the United States.
The project also calls for BrightNight to build up to a 20-mile transmission line that would enable an additional 1 gigawatt of renewable power generation to be built in the region in the future.
The first phase of project development calls for construction to begin in 2025. Rivian has agreed to buy 100 MW of renewable power from the first phase of the project through a power purchase agreement with BrightNight.
The Nature Conservancy has agreed to purchase up to 2.5 MW of renewable energy credits from the project to complement its onsite solar arrays and achieve clean power sustainability commitments.
The Nature Conservancy collaborated with Rivian to establish the competitive process that ultimately selected BrightNight’s Starfire Renewable Energy Center.
