Williams to add solar to natural gas facilities in nine states

Oklahoma pipeline operator Williams plans to add solar power to natural gas processing plants and other facilities in nine states.Williams announced Thursday that solar farms producing between 1 to 40 megawatts of power will be installed on company-owned land next to 48 sites in Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.Taking advantage of federal and state tax credits, the company views natural gas and solar as complimentary technologies with financial and environmental benefits.
“Natural gas is key to our country’s ability to add more renewable energy to the power grid in large volumes — it is a clean, affordable fuel that can quickly provide power when renewable energy sources are producing less due to the variability of sunlight and wind,” Williams CEO Alan Armstrong said.
The solar farms are expected to be placed into service starting in late 2021.
Williams currently buys more than 400 megawatts of electricity for the facilities where the solar farms will be installed. The on-site farms will produce a combined 350 megawatts of electricity with the potential at some locations to sell any excess power generated back to the grid.
“Given the current market structures and tax incentives, we are able to make these attractive incremental investments while continuing to enjoy the reliability that the grid provides via natural gas fired power generation,” Armstrong said.