Nashville renewable energy company Silicon Ranch has unveiled a 35-megawatt solar facility located in Bedford County.
According to a release, Silicon Ranch is partnering with Vanderbilt University, Nashville Electric Service and Tennessee Valley Authority on what is called the Vanderbilt I Solar Farm. First announced in 2020, the Vanderbilt I Solar Farm is the result of an agreement as the first project contracted under TVA’s Green Invest program, which matches demand for green power from commercial, industrial, and institutional customers with new utility-scale solar projects located in the Tennessee Valley.
Silicon Ranch developed and funded the project and hired more than 250 workers to build the solar facility. The company will also serve as the long-term owner and operator.
Silicon Ranch invested more than $50 million to install the Vanderbilt I Solar Farm, which projects to generate millions of dollars in new tax revenue for Bedford County.
In 2022, Silicon Ranch also donated 30 acres of its project site to the city of Shelbyville and Bedford County to support the recruitment of Duksan Electera America, Inc. Later that year, Gov. Bill Lee joined state and local officials to welcome Duksan Electera, which is investing $95 million to locate its first manufacturing facility in North America. That effort is expected to yield more than 100 new jobs.
The solar facility will give Vanderbilt a chance to meet its goal, announced in 2019, to power its campus entirely through renewable energy and become carbon neutral by 2050. The renewable generation from the Vanderbilt I Solar Farm will offset approximately 70 percent of the university’s annual Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions, or the equivalent of enough power to help serve more than 6,000 homes for one year.
“The Vanderbilt I Solar Farm demonstrates what is possible when we work together with a shared vision for the region, and Silicon Ranch is grateful to Vanderbilt for its leadership and to TVA and NES for their strong support of this meaningful renewable energy investment in Bedford County,” Matt Kisber, co-founder and chairman of Silicon Ranch, said in the release.
“I am a proud alumnus of Vanderbilt, as are many of …
