Construction of a 6-megawatt (AC) Dominion Energy-owned solar facility in Bamberg County has begun. When it enters service in the fourth quarter of this year, the facility will provide enough clean, renewable energy to power an equivalent of 1,000 homes.

The Denmark Solar facility is one of three arrays an affiliate of Dominion Energy has acquired from Charleston-based Southern Current that have long-term power purchase agreements (PPA) with Dominion Energy South Carolina, an electric and gas utility that serves a combined 1.1 million customer accounts. The three facilities – Denmark, Blackville Solar (Barnwell County) and Yemassee (Hampton County) – have a generating capacity of 23.2 megawatts (AC) and are expected to enter service this year. The company also plans to purchase the Trask East Solar facility from Southern Current in September. The 12-megawatt (AC) array is located in Beaufort County and also has a PPA with Dominion Energy South Carolina. Three other Dominion Energy-owned solar facilities in Beaufort and Jasper counties provide more than 150 megawatts (AC) to Dominion Energy South Carolina customers.

The company’s South Carolina utility has over 971 megawatts of solar capacity on its system. The South Carolina solar portfolio consists of 849 megawatts of utility-scale solar,106 megawatts of customer-sited solar and 16 megawatts of community solar projects.

“We have fully embraced adding solar generation on our system and making it accessible for all customers as we work to help build a clean, sustainable energy future of South Carolina,” said Danny Kassis, vice president of customer relations and renewables for Dominion Energy South Carolina. “Dominion Energy South Carolina has worked very hard at integrating these new assets and the existing 971 megawatts of solar into our system. We look forward to continuing our work to collaboratively and cost-effectively create a lower-carbon future for our customers and our state.”

Dominion Energy’s solar portfolio was recently ranked third by S&P Global Market Intelligence among utility holding companies in the U.S. With a goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050, Dominion Energy is committed to removing the same amount of carbon and methane emissions from the atmosphere as the company puts into it. This means shifting away from fuel sources such as coal and investing heavily in low- and no-carbon energy such as natural gas, nuclear, and solar. 

Among the 13 largest utilities in the Southeast, Dominion Energy South Carolina ranks second – with 807 solar watts per customer, which is 2.5 times the average for the region. Both the current and projected numbers are about 50% higher than the overall average for South Carolina. The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) has recognized Dominion Energy South Carolina as a top-performing utility for installed solar for the past three years.