Coal mines in the Appalachian Mountains will be transformed into a source of clean energy

Solar power plants are an excellent renewable source of electricity, but they also have an impact on the environment by taking up large areas of land.

However, if they were built in devastated locations, these impacts would be minimal. A good opportunity for this purpose is provided by depleted open-pit mines. If they are not reclaimed - a long-term and expensive process, they remain a sad reminder of the mining activity of the past.

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Cumberland Forest Limited Partnership have embarked on this path, transforming former coal mines in the Appalachian Mountains into clean energy centers. They have just announced new agreements with Sun Tribe Development and ENGIE to build 14 solar farms and three battery storage facilities on a total area of ​​360 acres (145 ha) in Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky.

The Appalachian Mountains are a mountain system in eastern North America (mainly in the United States, partly in Canada) with a length of over 3,000 km. They stretch from the island of Newfoundland in the north to the city of Montgomery, Alabama in the southwest.

In terms of installed capacity, these will not be record-breaking or groundbreaking solutions, but these projects are not just about clean energy. They are also intended to show that clean energy can be developed in former Appalachian coal mines in a way that benefits the environment and local communities.

Once launched, these projects will generate electricity from photovoltaic panels with a capacity of approximately 49 MW and will also add 320 MW of battery storage. This should be enough to power 6,638 Appalachian homes.

The Sun Tribe projects will be in Virginia and Tennessee. They will include one 5 MW solar farm and three battery backup systems ranging from 80 MW to 150 MW. These storage projects will improve grid reliability and help stabilize the grid.

ENGIE will build 13 community solar projects in Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky. It will use financial incentives under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act to help keep costs low. The solar plants, which will bring clean energy to multiple local communities, will range in size from 1 MW to 6 MW.

The announced projects build on the first round of a collaboration between TNC, Sun Tribe and Dominion Energy to bring renewable energy to the Appalachian Mountains. As of 2021, Sun Tribe and Dominion Energy are working on plans to build 140 MW of renewable energy at eight sites in the Cumberland Forest. The first project, Wildcats Solar, is a 10 MW solar farm planned in Wise County, Virginia. Construction is expected to begin by 2026, with other first-round projects expected to be operational by 2029.