The project employed 500 people at peak construction and adds 150 MW of capacity to the grid.
Avangrid announced it has commenced delivering electricity from the 150 MW Powell Creek solar project in Putnam County, Ohio.
Approved by the state siting board in 2021, the project is actively exporting electricity to the local electric grid. Avangrid said it is continuing with commissioning activities and other related work ahead of the project’s commercial operation date expected later this year.
The 150 MW solar project is comprised of 300,000 solar panels and is expected to generate enough electricity to meet the demand of about 30,000 homes per year.
The project supported 500 jobs during peak construction. Avangrid said most of the jobs were filled by local union workers from the region.
Powell Creek is located on land leased directly from Ohio landowners. It will stimulate the local economy through property tax and landowner payments. The solar project is expected to generate $31 million in taxes over its life, supporting public services including education departments.
“This project is coming online as energy demand continues to rise across the country, partly due to the growth of manufacturing, electrification, and data centers,” said Pedro Azaga, chief executive officer, Avangrid. “When we add new sources of energy onto the grid, like Powell Creek, we’re creating a more robust and reliable electricity infrastructure to benefit the local community, region, and state.”
Texas datacenter project
Avangrid recently announced operations of its largest project in Texas, a 321 MW solar facility supporting a datacenter operated by Meta (Facebook).
The project uses DuraTrack solar trackers made by Array Technologies, with some supplied from its New Mexico facility. Avangrid signed a $30 million order for the project’s trackers with Array in 2023, including safe harbor inventory.
True North is Avangrid’s seventh project in the Lone Star state, contributing to a combined capacity of nearly 1.6 GW. According to Avangrid, these projects represent over $2 billion in direct investment in Texas, support over 65 full-time jobs and have paid a combined $118 million in taxes since 2009.
Avangrid deploys grid infrastructure and energy generation assets, including utility-scale solar and wind. It has $47 billion in assets and operations in 23 states. The company owns and operates more than 75 energy generation facilities across the United States producing 10.5 GW of power.
