Kentucky Bourbon Distillery Installs First Phase of $2M On-Site Solar Array
Kentucky-based Castle & Key Distillery has installed the first phase of an on-site solar energy system to power its warehouse operation in Woodford County.
The initial solar power at Versailles Warehouse can generate 407 kW direct current (400 KW alternating current (AC) once inverted) and cover a large portion of the distillery’s energy needs. The first phase of the solar installation will feature 754 panels over nearly 21,000 square feet.
Work on Phase 2 is scheduled to begin this spring, eventually covering 63,350 square feet and generating 960 kW AC.
The $2 million investment was supported by the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) Grant, a federal initiative to help rural small businesses transition to renewable energy sources, reduce energy costs, and enhance American energy independence.
“Our solar energy investment is one of the latest steps we're taking to reduce our environmental impact, and we are working against a 30-year planning process,” said Will Arvin, co-Founder of Castle & Key. “This initiative reduces the distillery's carbon footprint, lowers energy costs, and reinforces our commitment to responsible innovation."
The distillery is current utilizing about 25% of the current solar production capacity. The remaining 75% is sold back to Kentucky Utilities into the main regional grid.
The dispatched solar into the grid serves as “a green power source for the community to power homes, businesses and facilities and on average this will equate to 270-350 homes in the community based on average power usage,” Charles Crume, engineering and maintenance manager at Castle & Key, said.
The Castle & Key Distillery was started in 1887 by Co. Edmund Haynes Taylor and featured a castle, classical springhouse and sunken garden. Prohibition forced closing of the distillery in the 1920s and it reopened later, eventually falling into disrepair until it was acquired and rebuilt by new ownership beginning in 2014.
Numerous distilleries across the U.S. have embraced energy decarbonization technologies from renewables to efficiency upgrades. Those include the Booker Noe Distillery in Kentucky, Bacardi in Puerto Rico and Jack Daniels in Tennessee.
