Solar

FirstEnergy utilities repurpose former coal ash site for utility-scale solar

Mon Power and Potomac Edison are developing five solar projects that will total 50 MW of renewable solar generation, the first phase of 200 MW the companies plan to develop over time.
FirstEnergy utilities repurpose former coal ash site for utility-scale solar
(Credit: FirstEnergy)

Mon Power and Potomac Edison, subsidiaries of FirstEnergy, have begun construction on their third utility-scale solar site in West Virginia, on a former coal ash disposal site.

The Marlowe solar project is located along Interstate 81 and the Potomac River on a 36-acre property in Berkeley County that was previously an ash disposal site for the former R. Paul Smith Power Station. In 2022, after removing more than three million tons of ash, FirstEnergy successfully completed the closure of the landfill, which paved the way for its redevelopment as part of the companies’ solar program.

Expected to be complete in 2025, the Marlowe solar facility will produce up to 5.75 MW. As with its other solar projects, Mon Power and Potomac Edison are using local union workers for construction, and the solar panels, racking system steel and supporting electrical equipment are made in the United States.

The project is part of the companies’ West Virginia solar program, which supports a 2020 bill passed by the West Virginia Legislature that authorizes electric utilities to own and operate up to 200 MW of solar renewable generation facilities to help meet the state’s electricity needs. The addition of new renewable generation also encourages economic development in West Virginia, as a growing number of companies require that a portion of the electricity they purchase be generated by renewable sources.

Mon Power and Potomac Edison are developing five solar projects that will total 50 MW of renewable solar generation, the first phase of 200 MW the companies plan to develop over time. The companies completed their first solar project at Fort Martin Power Station in Maidsville (18.9 MW) in January and started construction in March at a second site in Rivesville (5.5 MW).

Combined, the five projects will create more than 87,000 solar renewable energy credits (SRECs) available for purchase by customers who support renewable energy in West Virginia. SRECs are certificates that represent the environmental attributes of solar power and prove solar energy was generated on the purchasers’ behalf. For every megawatt hour of solar renewable electricity generated, one SREC is produced.

Since the inception of the solar program, Mon Power and Potomac Edison have enrolled residential customers as well as large commercial and institutional customers including the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in Morgantown and the town of Harpers Ferry. The cost to purchase SRECs through the program is 4 cents per kilowatt hour in addition to normal rates.

The companies will seek final approval from the Public Service Commission of West Virginia to build solar sites in Davis, Tucker County (11.5 MW), and Weirton, Hancock County (8.4 MW), when they have customer commitments for 85% of the renewable energy credits generated by those projects.