Avangrid, member of the Iberdrola Group, has completed installation on the 166-MWDC Tower Solar project in Morrow County, Oregon. The project features SEG Solar panels assembled in Houston. The project should reach commercial operation by the end of the year.
“This is a major milestone for Tower Solar and demonstrates how investment in America’s energy infrastructure drives economic growth nationwide,” said Jose Antonio Miranda, Avangrid CEO. “Assembling modules in Texas supported U.S. jobs and manufacturing, project construction is building the local workforce, and once complete, operations will reinforce the region’s grid with new power to support growing demand.”
The project will deliver energy to the Portland General Electric (PGE) power grid and help support a new QTS data center campus in the region.
“SEG Solar is proud to support Avangrid’s Tower Solar project by supplying high-quality modules manufactured at our Houston facility,” said Jim Wood, Chief Executive Officer of SEG Solar. “This project reflects our continued commitment to product quality, manufacturing excellence, and building strong partnerships across the U.S. market.”
Tower Solar is located just west of Boardman, Oregon and sits on about 900 acres of industrially zoned land owned by the Port of Morrow. Avangrid created approximately 200 construction jobs that were filled mostly with regional union labor. Tower Solar is expected to pay about $20 million in combined PILOTs (payment in lieu of taxes) and property taxes which will support a variety of public services, including education.
Tower Solar will deliver electricity to PGE’s grid through Green Future Impact (GFI), a voluntary program designed to help large municipal, commercial, and industrial customers meet their ambitious sustainability and carbon reduction ambitions through the development of new clean energy facilities in the region. PGE’s GFI program lets large customers choose non-emitting energy without increasing costs for other customers. All customers benefit from the energy, but program participants pay the extra cost of the clean energy they select.
News item from Avangrid
