DEC Will Buy More Solar

Delaware Electric Cooperative plans to buy solar power from facilities that are being built in Sussex and Kent Counties that are slated to be completed by the end of 2024.

According to DEC, a solar farm near completion in Hartly will provide power to hundreds of homes in Kent County. Pennsylvania-based Tangent Energy is building it, with financing from Madison Energy Investments of Vienna, Virginia.

Construction is also expected to get underway this year on the Heimlich Solar Facility on Mile Stretch Road just west of Greenwood in a DEC partnership with Old Dominion Electric Cooperative. The 35-acre facility would feature nearly 16,000 solar panels. The manager is EDF Renewables Distributed Solutions.. The Broom Solar Facility near Ocean View is also expected to start producing solar energy in 2023.

DEC, a not-for-profit member-owned utility, has also reached an agreement with EDF to purchase power from four new solar facilities planned in Milford, Harrington, Felton and Clayton by 2024.

“The construction of the new solar facilities will allow the Co-op to continue to provide clean power to our members while also helping to keep our rates affordable. Solar power will play an important role in our energy mix as we work to lower our carbon footprint and reduce our impact on the environment,” Co-op President and CEO Greg Starheim said.