Enel heralds 'unstoppable' US energy transition as renewables spend ramped up
Italian player unveils quintet of wind and PV projects with three having energy storage in Texas totalling a combined capacity of 1.5GW
Enel Green Power (EGP) has begun construction of five giant wind and PV facilities with a combined capacity of 1.5GW in the US, as the Italian developer embraces President Joe Biden’s ambition for a carbon-free electric grid by 2035.
“The American transition to clean energy is unstoppable, and EGP North America is playing a leading role,” said CEO Salvatore Bernabei, its CEO, adding the company in the US had the ambition of “helping meet the ambitious clean energy targets of policymakers and businesses alike”.
Among the new projects are two solar hybrids in Texas: Roseland, a 639.6MW arrays with linked 59MW battery storage system, which is EGP’s largest PV array in North America and due to enter commercial operation in the second half of 2022. Blue Jay, 270MW of PV with 59MW of storage, will be fully online in the fourth quarter this year.
The wind projects include 263MW Ranchland, which will have an 87MW battery, among the largest in Texas. Operation is slated for first quarter 2022. With Ranchland and the two solar hybrids, along with five renewable plus storage projects previously announced, Enel will have 600MW of battery storage under construction in Texas this year versus 134MW installed by all renewable project owners in the state in 2020.
The 200MW Alta Farms wind project in Illinois and 140MW Rock Haven in Oklahoma, due online in second half 2022 and fourth quarter this year, respectively, are being built without storage.
All the new projects have off-take agreements for part of their capacity. It was not immediately clear if the balance will be sold on a merchant basis or additional buyers are being sought.
The developer also plans to retrofit both the 500MW High Lonesome wind farm and 497MW Roadrunner solar array in Texas with 57MW battery storage systems.
EGP has also begun construction of three other hybrid projects totalling 815MW of nameplate generation and 287MW of battery storage capacity in Texas.