EDP Renewables North America announced the start of construction on its 240 MW Cattlemen I Solar Park in Milam County, Texas.
EDP Renewables North America developed and will construct, own, and operate Cattlemen Solar Park, to be built in two stages, which will represent capital investments of approximately $320 million and $220 million. The company estimates that $55 million in taxes will be paid to support area schools and community services, and millions of dollars will be spent locally during the project’s construction and operational life, which is expected to span decades.
The installation will provide 400 employment opportunities during construction and the several full-time team members who will be employed to safely run and perform routine maintenance on the park during operations.
Cattleman Solar Park will sit on approximately 2,600 acres of land, and is expected to be operational in 2023, at which time it will generate enough electricity equivalent to the consumption of more than 37,000 average Texas homes. Cattlemen will also save more than 304 million gallons of water and avoid more than 271,000 tons of CO2 each year.
Cattlemen has two long-term commercial agreements in-place for the project: a 156 MW power purchase agreement (PPA) with Meta and a 60 MW PPA with Bristol Myers Squibb. Cattlemen Solar Park is the second PPA that EDP Renewables and Meta have executed; the companies’ first PPA was a 139 MW contract for EDPR NA’s 200 MW Headwaters II Wind Farm in Indiana.
Headquartered in Houston, Texas, with 58 wind farms, nine solar parks, and eight regional offices across North America, EDPR NA has developed nearly 9 GW and operates more than 8.2 GW of onshore utility-scale renewable energy projects.
