The Conway Corp Board of Directors approved a 20-year purchase power agreement with Lightsource BP, a global solar developer, at its April 3, 2020 meeting. The agreement is for the development of a 132-MWDC solar energy project in White County, Arkansas.
Lightsource BP will finance, build, own and operate the facility and will deliver the solar energy it generates to Conway Corp under the fixed-rate power purchase agreement.
The Happy Solar project is located on 700 acres near Happy, Arkansas, approximately 55 miles northeast of Little Rock. It will supply clean energy to Conway Corp’s customers in the city of Conway and will generate enough electricity to power more than 21,400 homes.
“We are committed to providing safe, reliable, affordable and innovative and environmentally sound service to our customers. This solar project checks all of those boxes,” Conway Corp CEO Bret Carroll said. “We know this project is a great long-range strategy in our continued efforts to serve our customers with excellence.”
In addition to providing fixed, low-cost power, the project will create 250 jobs during the construction of the facility.
“We applaud Conway Corp for taking the lead in delivering the many benefits of solar energy to its customers and look forward to our continued collaboration as we work to bring this exciting project online,” said Kevin Smith, CEO of the Americas for Lightsource BP. “We believe renewable and affordable solar energy is an important part of the state’s future energy mix, and we’re dedicated to making it a positive contribution to local communities.”
With Lightsource BP’s model of developing, owning and operating their projects, the company is committed to be a long-term partner of the local communities in Arkansas. Their approach includes community engagement, maximizing local benefits and development of a site-specific long-term land management plan that will optimize environmental benefits of the project in order to help improve the land. The project is expected to go online at the end of 2022.
