Amazon.com Inc. and Arlington County are looking to get the majority of their energy from a planned solar farm 240 miles south of the company’s second headquarters.
The Arlington County Board voted Tuesday to approve an agreement with Dominion Energy Virginia to buy power from a solar facility the Richmond utility will build on 1,500 acres in Pittsylvania County in southern Virginia. Construction will begin this year on the facility, to be called the “Amazon Arlington Solar Farm Virginia,” and it could start producing energy as early as 2022.
Libby Garvey, the county board chair, said this was a “tiny” step in the right direction.
“I view it as a transition,” Garvey said. “Eventually, I want to get to [districtwide] energy where we are producing energy in Arlington.”
The farm’s capacity would total 120 megawatts and could generate up to 250 million kilowatt-hours of power a year, with Arlington buying 31.7% and Amazon purchasing 68.3%. The company said its portion would power its second headquarters in Crystal City and Pentagon City, starting with its 2.1 million-square-foot office towers at Metropolitan Park, as well as the Whole Foods Market nearby and various fulfillment centers across the state.