NASM partnership for solar energy

An East Mississippi partnership will bring a solar-generating facility to Naval Air Station Meridian. It will consist of about 51,000 solar panels on 38 acres of land leased from the NASM for customers of the East Mississippi Election Power Association and Tennessee Valley Authority. The Navy and the Nashville-based Silicon Ranch Corp. partnership will be funded, built, owned, operated and maintained by SRC, a solar projects developer in Tennessee, Georgia, Arkansas and Mississippi. Navy’s energy objectives encourage flexibility and energy resiliency, according to a media release. In the event of a grid outage, energy from the solar facility may be directly routed to NASM. “NAS Meridian’s success in effectively managing energy resources has been recognized at the highest levels of the Navy,” said base commander Capt. Scott Bunnay, “and efforts like the solar project, to diversify energy sources help bases become more resilient and secure.” Under normal circumstances, generated energy will flow from NASM to the local EMEPA grid, which serves homes and businesses throughout Winston, Kemper, Lauderdale and Clarke counties and six other neighboring counties. NAS Meridian is EMEPA’s biggest industrial customer. (Source: Meridian Star 05/23/17) Gulf Coast Note: Military installations along the Gulf Coast that have similar solar projects - with various power entities, including Southern Company affiliates - include Saufley Field in Pensacola and Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, and the Army’s Fort Rucker in southeast Alabama.