A company known for supplying “farm-to-table” clean energy to homes and businesses said it was growing its portfolio by acquiring two solar power projects in North Carolina. CleanChoice Energy, which is majority owned by funds managed by True Green Capital Management, on February 18 said the company was adding projects located in Halifax and Bertie counties that combined have generation capacity of 222.2 MW.
CleanChoice Energy on Wednesday said the acquisitions are the company’s largest to date. The company, headquartered in Washington, D.C., and founded in 2012, currently operates a 100-MW solar farm in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. It is in the process of building new projects in Kylertown, Pennsylvania, and in Washington and Rensselaer counties in New York.
Construction of the North Carolina projects—the Sumac facility in Bertie County (103.92 MW), and the Sweetleaf installation in Halifax County (118.3 MW)—is expected to begin early next year, with grid interconnection in the PJM territory expected in 2028.
“The Sumac and Sweetleaf projects represent a pivotal step in our evolution into a fully integrated clean energy company that builds, owns, and delivers renewable power directly to customers,” said Zoë Gamble, president of CleanChoice. “As electricity demand accelerates nationwide, we’re investing in high-capacity solar infrastructure that strengthens grid reliability, expands domestic energy supply, and gives more households access to locally sourced, pollution-free power.
CleanChoice said the company will have initiatives to benefit the local communities near the Sumac and Sweetleaf projects, and would invest $350,000 combined to support food banks, schools, scholarship opportunities, education, and more.
CleanChoice’s solar projects are known as agrivoltaic installations, embracing agriculture use of their land use in addition to power generation. The Sumac and Sweetleaf projects will feature wildlife-friendly fencing. The company said no trees will be cleared, and there will no impact to existing timber and forests. The projects will implement sediment and erosion control measures to protect wetlands, streams, and jurisdictional waters. CleanChoice will collaborate with third-party environmental consultants to avoid impacting land that is home to protected habitats or species.
CleanChoice is acquiring the Sumac and Sweetleaf projects from Geenex, a developer of utility-scale energy projects. “These projects represent years of strategic development work designed to deliver reliable, high-capacity energy resources to the PJM grid,” said Emily Williams, CEO of Geenex. “As electricity demand continues to accelerate, it is essential that well-sited, community-supported projects move efficiently from development into construction. We are proud to have advanced Sumac and Sweetleaf to this stage and to work with CleanChoice to help meet the region’s growing energy needs.” Geenex began developing the Sumac and Sweetleaf projects in 2017.
—Darrell Proctor is a senior editor for POWER.
