EDF Energies commissions four wind farms in United States
EDF Energies Nouvelles has commissioned four wind farms in the US with total installed capacity of over 708MW.
In North America, the Group has also accelerated its solar energy expansion drive in 2016 with notably a new 150 MWac project in the United States.
It contributes to the EDF Group’s CAP 2030 strategy which aims at doubling its renewable energy capacity by 2030.
Four new wind energy projects in the United States
A series of new projects entered service between December 2016 and January 2017 in the United States:
-The Tyler Bluff (125.6 MW) and Salt Fork (174 MW) wind farms in northern Texas,
-The Great Western wind farm (225 MW) in north-eastern Oklahoma,
-The Kelly Creek wind farm (184 MW) in north-eastern Illinois.
Three of these projects are linked to the commitments made by large multinationals to reduce their carbon footprint, which represents a key sector driver in the United States:
-The majority (96 MW) of Tyler Bluff’s output is covered by an agreement with Procter & Gamble, allowing the Company to offset 100% of the electricity needed for all its North American based Fabric & Home Care plants.
-The Great Western project’s output is contracted to Google Inc. to supply renewable electricity to a nearby data centre.
-Salesforce entered into a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) covering part of the power generated by the Salt Fork project (24 MW).
Resurgence in solar energy in North America
EDF Energies Nouvelles has also signed a 20-year PPA with MCE (Marin Clean Energy) for the Desert Harvest (150 MWac) in southern California.
In 2016, EDF Energies Nouvelles won 351 MWac in large-scale solar energy projects in Mexico and in the United States that are due to enter service by 2019. It has launched a drive to expand in the distributed solar market through the acquisition of Grosolar.