Google invests $157m in giant Utah solar plant
104MW Red Hills Renewable Energy Park will cost a total of around US$188 million and is scheduled to come online by the end of the year
Google, Prudential Capital Group and Scatec Solar are working together on a new renewable energy project and will develop one of the largest solar power plants in the U.S.
The 104MW Red Hills Renewable Energy Park in Utah will cost a total of around US$188 million and is scheduled to come online by the end of the year.
The development will see approximately 325,000 photovoltaic (PV) panels fitted at the 650 acre site near the city of Parowan and will provide enough energy to power around 18,500 homes annually, while mitigating in the region of 145,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
The plant will be owned by Google and Norwegian solar energy project developer Scatec, with electricity sold to PacifiCorp's Rocky Mountain Power under a 20-year agreement.
The project represents Google's 18th renewable energy investment and the tech giant has now committed over $1.5bn in renewable energy investments with a total estimated capacity of more than 2.5GW.
The site will be able to generate 210 million kilowatt-hours of solar power annually.
The Red Hills solar power station is a part of Scatec Solar’s target to install 750MW of PV capacity by the end of 2016.
Luigi Resta, managing director, Scatec Solar North America has cited Utah as an ideal location for solar applications because of its sunny climate and it is also situated at around 5,800 feet above sea level which keeps the solar power systems cool and operating at an optimum level.
Google invested $80m in six solar facilities in California and Arizona in 2013 in addition to another $103m investment in Silver Ridge Power’s 265.7-megawatt Mount Signal Solar project.
Google generally uses solar energy to power its data centres to reduce its carbon footprint.
Google is investing $157m in the project, with Prudential Capital Group investing the rest and Scatec will develop the site.
Google, as the tax equity investor in the deal, will pay the bulk of the project’s cost in return for tax incentives and a share of the facility’s income.
UK-based Lightsource Renewable Energy also announced this week that its 5.1MW solar farm in Nottinghamshire has become operational.
Situated between the villages of Kirton and Tuxford, the 21 acre site can power around 1,110 local homes, and means the company's total installed capacity now stands at just under 737MW.