Gas pipeline company Enbridge marked the completion of the 130-MW Orange Grove Solar project, its first solar facility in the Lone Star State, with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Telecom giant AT&T has signed a long-term virtual power purchase agreement for the output of the project. The array is composed of 300,000 solar panels that sit on 920 acres.
Orange Grove Solar project in Jim Wells County, Texas.
“We are pleased to be able to deliver additional zero emission electricity into the grid in support of local and Texas state-wide economic growth and energy demand,” said Matthew Akman, executive VP of corporate strategy and president of Enbridge’s power business. “Enbridge is proud to operate a wide range of critical energy infrastructure across the Gulf Coast area including liquids pipelines and export facilities, natural gas pipelines and storage, as well as wind and now solar power.”
In addition to Orange Grove, Enbridge has a second, solar facility under construction southeast of Abilene, in Callahan County, Texas, that is more than six times the size of this facility. The 815-MW Sequoia Solar project is set to become one of North America’s largest solar installations.
These facilities are being built in order to meet the growing demand for power in the ERCOT market.
“Orange Grove Solar wouldn’t be possible without the support of the people who helped make it a reality,” said Maja Nisbet, manager of power projects, Enbridge. “At Enbridge, while we’re proud to see the project reach this incredible milestone and begin delivering power to the Texas grid, this celebration event is really about the community behind it. From Orange Grove residents and nearby landowners to our dedicated project team — and the local, state, and federal officials who supported us every step of the way—this was a shared effort. Thank you for being such strong partners.”
News item from Orange Grove Solar
“In addition to Orange Grove, Enbridge has a second, solar facility under construction southeast of Abilene, in Callahan County, Texas, that is more than six times the size of this facility. The 815-MW Sequoia Solar project is set to become one of North America’s largest solar installations.”
The ‘thing’ here is even the Enbridge web site doesn’t have a lot of information on the nuts and bolts of this site, it seems land clearing is still going on. It does seem to be a multi-phase construction project, again NO specifics on the EPC of the site. Those who are involved or just interested in these projects would like to know what panels are to be used for (815-MW(p?)) solar farm. Will it be for customer end users or will it be like Orion that is something on the order of 85% power for Google data center and 15% to the regional grid? Right now it looks like AT&T and Toyota are going to be the long term PPA supply agreements of the output of this solar farm. Does this solar farm have an EPC design program in place at least calling out say First Solar Series 7 panels mounted on Next Tracker single-axis trackers and will there be on site Utility scale energy storage and from (who)?