The Public Works Commission plans to build its third solar farm by its sewer treatment plant in Grays Creek near Rockfish Creek and the Cape Fear River.
The PWC’s board voted unanimously on Wednesday to hire River City Construction of Washington, North Carolina, to build the farm for $6.49 million. River City was one of four companies that bid on the project, according to agenda materials from Wednesday’s meeting.
The bid is now subject to final approval by the Fayetteville City Council. The city owns the PWC.
The 4.875-megawatt Rockfish Solar Utility Station is to be built off N.C. 87 South on Tracy Hall Road next to the Rockfish Creek Water Reclamation Facility — a sewer treatment plant near where Rockfish Creek enters the Cape Fear River, according to PWC bid materials.
The total budget to build and open the Rockfish Solar Utility Station is $8.95 million, PWC spokesman Gavin MacRoberts told CityView. It’s expected to open in late 2025 or early 2026, he said.
Growing solar capabilities
The Rockfish solar farm is part of a larger effort by the PWC to expand its solar generation operations. The PWC has one farm, and including the Rockfish farm it plans to build three more.
Here are the details on the other solar farms, from the PWC’s website and provided by MacRoberts:
• Community Solar/Battery Storage. The PWC’s first solar farm opened in 2019 next to the natural gas powered Butler-Warner Generation Plant in the Eastover area. It generates up to 1 megawatt. The PWC plans to expand this farm. The size and date of the expansion are not yet determined.
• Gillespie Solar Photovoltaic Utility Station. This $3.4 million, 1.9-megawatt solar farm will be the PWC’s second solar farm. It is under construction at 3858 Gillespie St., where the Sally Hills Farms horse stable used to be in the Southview area between the Fayetteville Regional Airport and Hope Mills. It’s due to open in early 2025.
• Carvers Falls Road. “Engineering is underway for an additional solar farm off Carvers Falls Road,” MacRoberts said. This is on the north side of Fayetteville off Ramsey Street near Interstate 295. Construction is to start after the Rockfish solar farm is complete. It will be the PWC’s fourth solar farm. The estimated cost has not yet been determined.
The PWC provides electricity to customers in and around Fayetteville. It buys most of its power at a wholesale price from Duke Energy Progress. Its natural gas Butler-Warner plant is only activated during periods of peak demand and generates electricity for Duke during those periods, officials have said.
The existing solar farm by the Butler-Warner plant supplies power to the PWC’s customers, not Duke, MacRoberts said, as will the new farms.