Clearway Energy Group announced that it has closed financing and begun construction of the 300-MW Pine Forest solar and 200-MW Pine Forest standalone storage projects in Hopkins County, Texas. Once complete, the Pine Forest projects will generate enough electricity to power over 90,000 homes . The energy storage system will store excess power and dispatch it when demand is high, providing valuable flexibility to the grid.
To finance the $665 million project, Clearway assembled a bank consortium consisting of Société Générale; Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, New York Branch; Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A., New York Branch; Commerzbank AG, New York Branch; KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc. and Lloyds Bank Plc.
“Our Pine Forest projects represent a major investment in grid reliability in Texas,” said Brooks Friedeman, VP of capital markets at Clearway. “We value the financial support that our consortium of banks has provided to start construction of the Pine Forest projects.”
Dell Technologies contracted a significant portion of the solar project under a long-term virtual power purchase power agreement (VPPA) to support its climate goals. This project is expected to generate renewable energy to meet the majority of Dell Technologies’ U.S. footprint, bringing the company closer to one of its global sustainability ambitions of sourcing 75% electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and 100% by 2040.
“The Pine Forest solar project marks a pivotal step in Dell Technologies’ journey towards achieving net zero emissions by 2050. With this contract, we’re supporting the introduction of a significant amount of clean energy into the grid and expanding our renewable energy procurement as the project is projected to address most of our U.S. energy needs. Together with Clearway, we are not only envisioning a sustainable future, but actively building it. As part of our strategy, we continue to explore additional avenues to advance sustainability, ensuring our operations remain efficient, responsible, and innovative,” said Mark Pringle, Senior Vice President of Global Facilities and EHS, Dell Technologies.
Separately, Universal Corporation is also contracted under a VPPA with the Pine Forest solar project. Universal’s portion of the project will offset 100% of the electricity it uses in the United States with renewable power, contributing to its overall emissions reduction targets.
“This is a meaningful step towards meeting our worldwide science-based environmental target to reduce operational greenhouse gasses emissions by 30% by 2030,” said George C. Freeman III, Universal’s Chairman, president, and CEO. “When the solar project is operational, we expect to hit this target for our U.S. operations ahead of schedule. Universal is proud of the steps we are taking to promote the sustainability of our operations and contribute to global sustainability goals, including supporting this project that will bring additional renewable energy to the electricity grid.”
The Pine Forest projects will support an estimated 350 construction jobs and several permanent operations positions, contribute millions of dollars of direct investment to the local community, and generate more than $58 million in property taxes over the next 20 years.
The projects will reach commercial operation in 2025. Clearway is also in discussions with corporate entities on the transfer of certain clean energy tax credits associated with Pine Forest.
News item from Clearway Energy Group