Clearway Energy Group has closed financing and initiated construction of the 300 MW Pine Forest solar and 200 MW Pine Forest standalone storage projects in Hopkins County, Texas.
The projects, worth $665 million, will generate enough electricity to power over 90,000 homes with reliable, low-cost energy upon completion. The energy storage system will store excess power and dispatch it during high demand to offer valuable flexibility to the grid.
Dell Technologies has signed a long-term virtual power purchase power agreement (vPPA) with Clearway for a significant portion of the solar project and support its climate goals. The project is expected to generate renewable energy to meet the majority of Dell Technologies’ U.S. footprint, helping the company achieve sourcing 75% electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and 100% by 2040.
On the other hand, Universal Corporation has also inked a vPPA with the Pine Forest solar project. Universal’s portion of the project will offset 100% of the electricity it uses in the U.S. with renewable power, enabling the company to meet its science-based environmental target to reduce operational greenhouse gasses emissions by 30% by 2030.
The projects will support an estimated 350 construction jobs and several permanent operations positions, provide direct investments to the local community, and generate more than $58 million in property taxes over the next 20 years.
“We will finally be able to build new facilities for our students as a result of the revenue generated from these projects,” said Dr. Greg Bower, Superintendent of Como-Pickton CISD. “Our students not only benefit from the electricity generated from the solar panels, but they get to learn in buildings that were built as a result of the added property value the solar panels bring.”
Clearway predicts the projects to reach commercial operation in 2025 and is in discussions with corporate entities on the transfer of certain clean energy tax credits associated with Pine Forest.
