Ozarks Electric, Today’s Power to build solar park in Lincoln

Ozarks Electric Cooperative and Today’s Power Inc. announced Monday (Dec. 21) the creation of a new 2.7-megawatt Ozarks Natural Energy solar park on 25 acres of land near Lincoln.

The solar array will provide renewable energy to multi-industry entities including the City of Springdale, Elkins Public Schools, Lincoln Public Schools and OzarksGo. This will be Ozarks’ third large-scale solar project and is expected to produce over 4 million kilowatt hours within its first year of service.

The solar park will also include approximately 7 megawatts of energy storage that Ozarks Electric will utilize to reduce wholesale demand charges. Planning and engineering for the construction of the solar park are currently underway, with a goal of completing the facility by June 2021.

“As technology and innovation in the renewable energy sector continue to grow, Ozarks believes that renewable energy will be an increasingly important part of our member’s lives,” said Mitchell Johnson, president and CEO of Ozarks Electric. “We are pleased to partner with Today’s Power to provide solar solutions for our members.”

Each participant in the solar park will use separate metering to allow the energy produced to be billed to each customer under a solar power service agreement. Today’s Power will construct, own, operate and maintain the solar park for the participating members, as well as the battery storage for Ozarks.

The solar park is estimated to save the participating entities more than $3 million over 20 years.

“We are always happy to help cooperatives and their members find ways to leverage renewable energy, and this solar park will be a great example,” said Michael Henderson, president of Today’s Power. “Partnerships like these show that with cooperation and innovation, everyone can benefit from renewable energy.”