More than 120 MW of solar energy is expected due to a partnership between Walmart and Nexamp, which will develop 31 community solar projects across five states.
The solar facilities will be in five states: Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Illinois, and Minnesota. A spokesperson for Nexamp told pv magazine USA they expect the new solar projects to begin going online in mid-2025 and on into 2026.
According to solar developer Nexamp, the projects are expected to create more than 1,500 new jobs during their construction and the solar farms’ ongoing operations. Nexamp said approximately 8,000 residential customers will benefit from the projects.
Walmart’s collaboration with Nexamp “is intended to help communities save money on energy bills, strengthen local grid infrastructure, and drive local job creation,” said Frank Palladino, vice president of Renewable Energy Strategy for Walmart.
The 31 community solar projects are expected to provide the benefits of affordable, renewable energy to subscribers across the five states. Customers can expect to see significant energy cost reductions, with overall savings totaling more than $2 million per year.
Walmart adopted specific targets earlier this year to meet the company’s goal to reach net-zero emissions by 2040. According to The Solar Energy Industries Association’s (SEIA) ninth-annual Solar Means Business report, Walmart has the fifth highest solar procurement among U.S. corporations. Walmart is also among the top five companies for onsite solar installations.
U.S. businesses installed nearly 40 GW of onsite and offsite solar capacity through Q1 2024. Total corporate storage use exceeds 1.8 GWh, and corporations have reported over 3 GWh of contracted battery storage expected to come online in the next 5 years.
Nexamp and Walmart previously collaborated on a portfolio of New York’s community solar projects in 2021. In March, Walmart extended and expanded upon its 2021 agreement with Nexamp to create 26 community solar projects across six states. The projects will produce enough electricity to support community solar subscriptions for about 13,000 residential households in the U.S. annually and enable approximately $8 million in annual bill savings.
Community solar allows residents, small businesses, organizations, and municipalities to subscribe to a portion of a solar asset’s electricity generation to receive credit on their electricity bills for the power it generates. One of its major benefits that is it opens access to customers that may not have a suitable roof or financial situation for rooftop solar.
A recent Wood Mackenzie report projects that a cumulative total of U.S. community solar installations could reach 14 GW by 2028, more than doubling the total in less than five years. Community solar is in early stages, with only 18 states and Washington D.C. having policies and programs that encourage its growth. The Wood Mackenzie report said the strong [solar] markets in Illinois and New York, two of the states that will house Nexamp and Walmart’s new solar farms, can serve as models for implementing a successful community solar program.
As consumer protection practices, the Department of Energy recommends that community solar programs ensure
subscribers receive about 20% savings on their electricity bills,
subscribers are not assessed exit or termination fees, and
there are compliance mechanisms are in place to ensure the community solar assets deliver on their expected generation.
Corporations are signing onto community solar for several reasons, the first of which is that they are looking to meet their clean energy and sustainability goals. Distributed energy projects, like community solar, are smaller projects that are located on the distribution side of the energy grid and are generally up and running much faster than utility-scale projects. Furthermore, many community solar projects have an environmental justice component, often bringing lower-cost energy to low-income residents and supporting this cause support corporations’ ESG goals.
In March, Walmart announced two large deals to add both utility and community-scale solar in numerous locations across the United States. The retail giant also announced a partnership with Pivot Energy earlier this year, which will invest in 19 solar projects in development across the U.S., including 15 community solar projects. The tax equity investment supports the construction, operation, and maintenance of solar projects in Illinois, Colorado, Maryland, Delaware, and California.
Walmart’s investment with Pivot Energy facilitates 72 MW of community solar projects, 41 MW of which are located in Colorado and designed to serve low- and moderate-income homes. The community solar projects are expected to be completed in 2024 and 2025, serving an estimated 7,000 households and creating an estimated $6 million in annual savings for subscribers to the projects.
