In coordination with the U.S. Army Office of Energy Initiatives and Fort Hood, Defense Logistics Agency Energy has signed a power purchase agreement with Apex Clean Energy Holdings LLC.
The agreement covers 65.8 MW of electricity from a combination of large-scale solar and wind facilities. The hybrid project will begin providing energy to Fort Hood – a U.S. military post in Killeen, Texas – in 2017.
Over the course of the 28-year agreement, the Army is expected to pay about $168 million less than what it would pay for power from the traditional electricity grid.
The project will feature 50.4 MW of wind energy from the Cotton Plains Wind facility in Floyd County, Texas, and 15.4 MW AC from the Phantom Solar project on-site at Fort Hood.
Apex is collaborating with two service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses in the development and construction of the project: Tennessee Valley Infrastructure Group will serve as the balance-of-plant contractor on the wind energy component, and American Helios Constructors will support construction of the solar component.
Katherine Hammack, assistant secretary of the Army for installations, energy and environment, notes that the project is the U.S. Army’s first hybrid energy project and the “largest single renewable energy project to date.”
“The Army will continue to partner with private-sector entities such as Apex Clean Energy Inc. to expand renewable energy initiatives on our installations,” she says.
Mark Goodwin, president of Apex Clean Energy, adds, “As a veteran myself, I am honored to be partnering with the Army on a renewable energy project that will ensure a consistent, affordable and secure energy resource for Fort Hood for years to come.”
