Kentucky’s newest solar farm is now active. Most of its power goes to Toyota.
Kentucky’s newest solar farm is up and running in Martin County.
The Martin County Solar Project is an 850-acre plot built on the old Martiki coal mine. With over 214,000 double-sided solar panels, the facility can produce 111 megawatts of energy.
Savion, the company that owns the farm, estimated that’s enough power to keep 18,500 Kentucky homes running annually for the next 40 years — but that’s not how the energy will be used.
In May 2023, Toyota Motor North America agreed to purchase 100 megawatts of the project. Shell Energy North America purchased the remaining 11 megawatts. Shell PLC, best known for Shell gas stations, is Savion’s parent company and the solar farm’s asset manager.
“Savion saw the exceptional opportunity to develop a solar project on a former coal mine in the great state of Kentucky, which has a rich history of energy generation in this country and continues to demonstrate its commitment to powering our nation through creative solutions such as this one,” said Nick Lincon, Savion President.
Development for the project proposal started in 2020. The project received a $231 million Industrial Revenue Bond from the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority in 2021, along with a $600,000 sales tax incentive through the Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Act. Construction started in October 2023 and finished in December 2024.
The panels are connected to Kentucky Power’s Inez Substation, which is already on the site. Power company substations help transfer the energy created on the farms to businesses and homes to use as power.