Village Farms announces renewable energy development in Texas

Village Farms L.P., the U.S. operating subsidiary of Village Farms International, Inc., SolarCity and MP2 Energy have agreed to build a 2 megawatt solar array adjacent to Village Farm’s 30-acre Permian Basin Division greenhouse in Monahans, Texas.

The solar system is expected to provide the facility with nearly all of its daytime electricity needs and generate more than 82 million kilowatt-hours of power over the life of the system. Through a power purchase agreement, Village Farms will pay SolarCity for the electricity the solar installation generates.

The project will allow Village Farms to fix its daytime electricity costs at a low rate, comparable to its current electricity rate, and avoid future increases in energy, demand, or congestion charges. SolarCity will fund, design, engineer, build and maintain the installation. Legend Energy Advisors, a full-service energy consulting firm that assists with a range of supply and demand side energy services, also played a key role in the project that not only meets the load needs of Village Farms but also makes the system economically viable even in the often-volatile Texas energy market.

The project will take advantage of net metering, which allows any solar power generation in excess of the greenhouse’s needs to be sold back to MP2 Energy, Village Farms’ power supplier. MP2 Energy will then credit Village Farms for the excess energy, and supply the remaining power to the site. The long term of the power purchase agreement and power supply, backed by SolarCity’s performance guarantee, will lock in low rates and protect Village Farms from future increases.

The solar array system is also a new source of renewable power in Texas. Despite the state’s status as one of the largest energy producers in the nation, additional energy capacity infrastructure is needed as demand continues to increase, and renewable energy facilities are expected to play a key role in providing new sources of power.

“We are excited to announce our next renewable energy development, which not only enhances one of our strategic priorities in supporting our core sustainable growing practices, but also locks in our daytime electricity costs at our Permian Basin facility, one of the world’s most advanced hi-tech greenhouses, for the next 20 years,” said Michael DeGiglio, chief executive officer of Village Farms. “I don’t know of any other controlled environmental growing facility globally whose electrical supply is provided from solar energy during the day and substantively from wind power during the night. It is also a progressive and great addition to our other renewable energy projects such as our British Columbia methane 7 Mw co-generation facility running at our VF Clean Energy powerhouse, as well as the Quadrogen fuel cell project which will produce hydrogen, CO2, heat and electricity, once the project is completed. Growing fresh produce that is safe and great tasting, while using efficient and renewable energy and less water is what we do at Village Farms and we are proud to be Good for the Earth.We are very excited to be one of the initial commercial projects for SolarCity in the state of Texas.”