Solar power plant lights up abandoned nuclear project

• 7 years ago (2017-07-06)
• David Flin

North America 1021 Solar 272

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Construction of the Phillips Bend Nuclear Power Plant in Tennessee, USA was abandoned in 1981, 36 years ago. Now, the site is producing carbon-free electricity, through a 1 MW solar power plant built on the site. Birdseye Renewable Energy and United Renewable Energy partnered to design and construct the solar farm at the old planned nuclear site.

The solar power plant has a peak capacity of 1MW, and will generate 1100-1400 MWh/year. The system is scheduled to run for at least 30 years.

The Phillips Bend nuclear project was abandoned after the 1979 Three Mile Island incident.

This solar project is a parallel to similar projects elsewhere, such as a 100MW solar development on an old mountaintop coal strip mine in Kentucky, USA, and a floating 40MW solar plant on a flooded coal mine in China.

Some of the challenges of developing brownfield sites include complex permitting requirements and extended development time. In addition, brownfield sites can be challenging for development. For example, the ground on old landfill sites might be unstable.