Acciona Energia says it will begin construction soon on a 235-megawatt solar farm in Fleming County, with the goal of making it operational by 2028.
If constructed as planned, it would be one of the largest solar facilities in Kentucky, creating 300 jobs, though it’s not clear how many of those would be permanent.
A similar-sized solar project in Martin County began operating in 2024 and has 11 full-time Kentucky employees. It was built on a former coal mine.
One megawatt of solar powered an average of 174 homes in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.
The state has been slow to embrace solar energy, even as it’s become the fastest growing source of electricity in the U.S.
Coal still dominates Kentucky’s power grid. Nationwide, though, solar surpassed coal in electricity generation for the first time in May.
Those lines crossed as the Trump administration attempts to revive coal generation, granting tens of millions of federal dollars to plants in Kentucky and West Virginia.
That includes $51 million to build a new cooling tower at Kentucky Power’s Mitchell plant near Moundsville, West Virginia. Kentucky Power co-owns the plant with Wheeling Power.
East Kentucky Power Cooperative received $90 million to enable two of its coal plants, Spurlock in Mason County and Cooper in Pulaski County, to co-fire with coal and natural gas.
Still, the Trump administration’s efforts to bolster coal haven’t slowed the growth of solar.
That industry generated 12.8% of the country’s electricity in May, while coal declined to 12.2%. That’s according to Ember, a global energy policy group.
According to Ember, coal still generated nearly 20% of U.S. electricity just five years ago.
