A version of this story appeared in E&ENews PM.

Billionaire Ted Turner has joined forces with a major coal-fired utility to develop renewable energy projects on his extensive landholdings in the West.

The alliance between Turner, the founder of CNN, and Atlanta-based Southern Co. will focus initially on developing and investing in large photovoltaic projects on Turner-owned land in the Southwest, said Jason Cuevas, a Southern Co. spokesman.

"Other renewable energy projects could be pursued both jointly and separately," added Cuevas, who declined to provide details. Several projects are under consideration, he noted, but it is not yet clear how much capital each party would commit.

"We bring operation and generation expertise," continued Cuevas, whose company has a 90 percent stake in the alliance. "Mr. Turner brings land."

Turner is the nation's largest individual landowner, with about 2 million acres. His namesake company, Turner Enterprises Inc., manages more than 50,000 head of bison and habitat for prairie dogs and other wildlife on ranches in Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.

Southern Co., which ranks as one of the nation's largest coal-fired power producers, aims to expand its modest portfolio of alternative-energy projects as Congress and the White House consider limits on greenhouse gas emissions.

The utility -- which has roughly 42,000 megawatts of generating capacity and 4.4 million customers in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida -- generated 68 percent of its electricity from coal in 2008, the most recent year for which data are available. The utility generated the rest from oil, natural gas, nuclear and hydropower projects.

Southern announced plans late last year to buy a 100-megawatt biomass power plant in northeast Texas for an undisclosed sum, and the utility appears poised to expand its renewable energy portfolio through the alliance with Turner (Greenwire, Oct. 9, 2009).

"We have said for some time that renewable energy should play an increasing role in this country's energy mix and that Southern Company would seek opportunities to expand our renewable portfolio where it makes sense," company CEO David Ratcliffe said in a statement. "This is evidence of that commitment."

While perhaps best known for his media and philanthropic endeavors, including founding CNN in 1980, Turner is also an energy sector veteran.

In early 2007, he founded Dome-Tech Solar to provide photovoltaic systems for commercial clients (Greenwire, Jan. 11, 2007). PV module maker First Solar Inc. eventually acquired the company for more than $34 million.

Turner, who could not be reached for comment, has called solar power "the greatest business opportunity in the history of humanity."