A group of Microsoft suppliers helped push a small solar farm over the finish line in North Carolina, using long-term contracts for renewable energy certificates (RECs) tied to the solar farm. These commitments helped the project reach financial close, a key hurdle often times times before construction. The project is now online in Anson County, 45 miles southeast of Charlotte and is expected to avoid about 7,810 metric tons of CO2 emissions each year. The participating suppliers include Slalom Consulting, Centific Technologies, ImagiCorps, BDA, Eleven 11 Solutions, TASA Analytics, and Visionet Systems. Evergreen, a clean energy marketplace, is trying to replicate this model by purchasing "high-impact" RECs tied to new builds rather than spot market.