Four Renewable energy systems to be installed in Calhoun County Arkansas

General Dynamics-OTS and Ouachita Electric Cooperative partner with Today’s Power

General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (OTS) and Ouachita Electric Cooperative (OECC) today reported that the two companies in conjunction with Today’s Power, Inc. (TPI) have invested in four renewable energy projects in Calhoun County, Arkansas. The solar sites in this project will cumulatively produce over 4,000,000 kWh of energy in year one. The energy storage systems will be able to output 4.8 MW of power for two hours.

The global aerospace and defense company has signed an agreement with TPI on solar power services for electricity from two 1 MW AC / 1.2 MW DC solar arrays being constructed near General Dynamics-OTS’s Calhoun County-based facilities. According to TPI, the arrays are scheduled to undertake commercial operations by the third quarter of 2020.

“We are excited about this opportunity to partner with TPI and OECC to expand our usage of renewable energy and reduce our carbon footprint at the General Dynamics-OTS Calhoun County facility,” said Eric Ellis, Vice President and General Manager of Precision Systems at General Dynamics-OTS.

OECC signed a battery energy storage services agreement to lease and operate the two 2.4 MW / 5.246 MWh on-site battery energy storage systems as part of this project. This device is supplied with electricity from the two solar arrays.

Designed to mitigate a portion of the distribution cooperative’s demand, Mark Cayce, General Manager of OECC says, “Ouachita Electric Cooperative is proud to partner with one of our local industries to help lower their cost of operations while at the same time lowering cost for all members of our cooperative. This project is a great example of how industry and utilities can work together to protect the environment, lower cost, and improve the reliability of the electric grid.”

All four projects mark the 10th major project for renewable energy in Calhoun County and surrounding areas. It is also the third battery energy storage project to be built by TPI in the state of Arkansas.

“It is a pleasure working with one of the most innovative companies in the world. General Dynamics-OTS has a strong reputation for providing top products and delivering reliable execution for its customers. TPI is honored to work with General Dynamics-OTS to ensure our nation’s defense is operated with clean sustainable energy” said Michael Henderson, President of TPI.

As a company, General Dynamics-OTS is committed to continuous improvement which includes creating efficiencies and building systems that reduce our emissions output. The nature of their business, with multi-year, large-scale manufacturing contracts, and our organizational structure make it challenging to set company-wide global emissions reduction goals. As such, each business unit determines its energy efficiency programs to meet its energy objectives and remain aligned with energy priorities of our customers. Across the business, we are collecting high-quality data, using a third-party firm. When the four projects are completed, they’ll provide renewable capacity to the grids that supplies General Dynamics-OTS Calhoun County-based operation.

Cooperation in this project included participation from the Calhoun County Quorum Court, Hampton School District.

Construction on this project is slated to begin in June and be completed in August.

General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (OTS) is a global systems developer and manufacturer of munitions, weapons and tactical systems across the entire air, land, and sea battle spectrum. It is the purpose of General Dynamics-OTS to empower the United States Armed Forces and its Allies through readiness and innovation to protect what is most important, the warfighter. We are dedicated to our people, our products, and our processes to ensure that every day we are Delivering the Best to the Best™