Two videos played today at a kick-off luncheon show the desolation before and the buzz currently under way at the old Halifax County airport.
By late fall the airport will be transformed into a 220-acre solar farm which is being built by Geenex and ET Solar.
Called HXOap Solar Farm, when finished it will be one of the largest operating plants in the state and the East Coast, officials said during the luncheon today at Kirkwood Adams Community Center.
(More photos may be found on Facebook page)
Referring to the video, in which local resident Tommy Fox was featured talking about the loss of textile jobs, Roanoke Rapids Mayor Emery Doughtie said, “I think both of us had the opportunity to see Roanoke Rapids in better days and now struggling to recover. Renewable energy is a growing industry in North Carolina. This county needs you and we want you to be a part with the industry you represent.”
Kevin White, director of ET Solar, which is building the facility, said, “Hopefully there are many more to come,” as he and Geenex officials would like to ultimately see the country become 100 percent dependent on renewable energy. “Six giga-watts equals six nuclear plants.”
White said the old airport fit the needs of the Geenex. He praised the involvement of the local community to locate the farm here and said the project is about 25 percent complete. “It really shows where we're at. When we're done it will be the largest in the state, maybe in the top five in the Southeast. It's very unique. We're elated to be a part of it. It's all positive and clean energy and cost-effective.”
White, left, and Veit, right, are interviewed by the Charlotte Business Journal.
Geenex CEO George Veit said the process over the last two years has been a long one. “It's a great place to be. We needed a place to get started. We were brought to the old airport. It was an empty field. We needed infrastructure and a workforce. All of that Halifax County had. We needed a community that is supportive. To be really successful we needed a base. I think that's why we're here.”
Coming with the project is a Solar Center of Excellence, which Veit hopes will become a standard for solar research.
“The Solar Center of Excellence was really the selling point for us,” Halifax County Board of Commissioners Chairman James Pierce said. “The Solar Center of Excellence, we think, will put us on the map as far as solar energy is concerned.”
Solar panels already installed.
For Frank Avent, chair of the Halifax County Development Commission, the solar farm will bring better jobs and better economic opportunities to the county. “Thank you for everyone who made this possible.”
State Representative Michael Wray told the audience, “This is the fruition of working together works. We had a great airport.”
Wray said after the new airport was built, the old one sat idle and was even used for drag racing and had several break-ins. “Everything happens for a purpose. The company had a vision and commitment to bring tax dollars and bring an educational facility that will get young people engaged. Our children need opportunities.”
At the site, construction workers were busy connecting solar panels, of which when the project is done there will be 98,724. There are 886 string inverters that will convert the current from AC to DC, making it the largest string inverter system in the country.
The power, which will be sold to Dominion, will fuel around 3,400 homes in the Roanoke Rapids area and offset some 20,000 tons of greenhouse gasses, the company said.
