Ørsted, after adding Old 300, will have 1.1GW of solar PV under construction under its portfolio
Ørsted’s Permian Solar Center currently being constructed. (Credit: Ørsted A/S)
Danish multinational power company Ørsted has taken a final investment decision on the Old 300 Solar Center in the US.
Located in Fort Bend County, the solar facility is at a distance of about 64km from Houston, Texas. The solar center is expected to come online in the second quarter of 2022.
Old 300 Solar Center will be spread across an area of 2,800 acres of land. It will use about one million bifacial modules, supplied by JA Solar and LONGi Solar.
The inverters for the project will be supplied by SMA America.
After the addition of Old 300, Ørsted’s portfolio of under construction solar energy will increase to 1.1GW.
Ørsted onshore chief commercial officer Vishal Kapadia said: “With its location close to Houston, Old 300 will further diversify our onshore footprint into a premium market with strong long-term fundamentals.
“We’re excited to add another large-scale, attractively contracted solar project to our portfolio. Solar is the fastest-growing power generation technology in the world and will continue to play a key role in our growth going forward.”
Old 300 construction to create 400 jobs
During the construction phase, the project is expected to create upto 400 jobs. Once operational, the farm will also generate $40m in property tax revenue for Fort Bend County and the Needville Independent School District.
The company said that a dependable income source will be created for the family ranches who lease their land for the project.
With Old 300 Solar Center, Ørsted will have a total of 3.4GW of capacity in operation and under construction across onshore wind, solar PV and storage of the company.
The company recently has completed the divestment of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) business to Glencore.