The US Army will work with Ameresco for an 18.6 MW direct current solar facility to be located at the Fort Detrick Army installation in Frederick, Maryland.
Under the contract, Ameresco will build, own, operate and maintain the large-scale solar facility, and Fort Detrick will purchase the renewable electricity from Ameresco through a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA). Fort Detrick will purchase the electricity at or below current and projected utility rates. All electricity from the solar facility will be consumed by Fort Detrick. Once operational, the facility is designed to serve 12 percent of Fort Detrick’s total annual electric load requirements.
Ameresco will begin construction on the project this summer, and the solar facility is planned to be operational by March 2016. More than 60,000 solar panels will be installed throughout 67 acres of Area B at Fort Detrick. The new Ameresco solar facility is designed to be micro-grid compatible.
Fort Detrick is a pilot net-zero installation with a goal of being net-zero energy by 2020.
