Northern Virginia could become home to one of the largest solar power plants in the country, and a public hearing on the plan is set for Tuesday afternoon.
Solar energy company sPower wants to build the 500-megawatt project on about 3,500 acres, or nearly 5 1/2 square miles, of land in western Spotsylvania County. The total area of the site is 6,350 acres. At least 2,000 acres will be preserved as open space.
See an interactive map of the project site.
Why so big?
“Toward the end of 2016, we identified a growing need in Virginia for green energy centered around the large data center providers,” said Daniel Menahem, senior manager of solar development with sPower.
The buyers of the electricity would include Apple, Microsoft, Akamai, Etsy and the University of Richmond.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Michelle Basch over at WTOP