Spanish Town Estate Solar 1, LLC

The proceeds from this USDA REAP loan refinanced an interim loan used to acquire and repair an existing solar farm that was damaged by Hurricane Irma and Maria in St. Croix.

Spanish Town Estate Solar 1, LLC, a Virgin Investments company, is a 17-acre solar farm located in St. Croix, VI. The facility consists of 16,800 solar panels, some with a dc capacity of 285 watts (2,350) and others 305 watts (14,450). The solar farm became operational in 2015 and sells power to Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (“WAPA”). By harnessing the island’s bountiful sunlight, the Spanish Town Estate facility stands ready to generate 4 megawatts (MWac) of clean, emission-free energy, enough to power the homes of approximately 1,500 customers of the U.S. Virgin Island Water and Power Authority (WAPA). The ground-mounted photovoltaic power plant is connected directly to the new Gregory E. Willocks Substation at the same location.

The Spanish Town Estate project will be an important step toward the U.S. Virgin Islands and St. Croix achieving their renewable energy goal to reduce fossil fuel-based energy consumption by 60 percent over the next decade. During construction, the project created nearly 100 direct and indirect jobs and injected an estimated $3 million into the local economy.