In an article published by Novogradac & Company, Senior Writer Teresa Garcia explores how Silicon Ranch worked with local stakeholders and utilized tax credits to build and operate a 12 megawatt (MW) solar farm serving Aerojet Rocketdyne and Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation (AECC).

Silicon Ranch Corporation was given the task of constructing a 12 MW alternating current (AC) solar farm for national aerospace manufacturer Aerojet Rocketdyne in East Camden, Arkansas. The challenge involved in building Arkansas’ largest utility-scale solar facility wasn’t construction but rather changing the mindset of a historically coal- fueled region. “There were some perceived issues from utility providers that solar was not economic and that it threatened their business model,” said Matt Beasley, Silicon Ranch Corporation’s senior vice president of business development. “Fortunately we were able to address those concerns through open discussion with our project stakeholders.”

The answer to the challenge was a power purchase agreement (PPA) that provided Aerojet Rocketdyne with clean power, all the while diversifying Arkansas’ electrical generation portfolio and welcoming capital into an underserved area. More than $15 million of total equity in federal renewable energy investment tax credits (ITCs), federal new markets tax credit (NMTCs) and Arkansas state NMTCs was monetized. “We crafted a solution to help Aerojet achieve its goals and tailored that solution in a manner that would also work for the distributor and Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation,” said Reagan Farr, vice chairman and chief operating officer of Silicon Ranch Corporation.

FULL ARTICLE: Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits