The U.S.-made trackers will supply a portion of Clearway’s solar development pipeline across 17 states.
Clearway Energy Group announced a volume commitment agreement (VCA) of 2 GW of solar trackers from California-based Nextracker, to be delivered over the next three years. The U.S.-made trackers will supply a portion of Clearway’s solar development pipeline across 17 states.
Clearway, also based in California, owns and manages more than 6.9 GW of operating wind, solar, and energy storage assets. The company recently announced that it closed financing on two utility-scale solar and storage projects located on U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land in California. The Victory Pass and Arica solar projects will generate 463 MW of combined clean energy capacity and 186 MW of battery storage, or enough electricity to power roughly 132,000 homes annually.
The tracker announcement was made during a ceremony celebrating Nextracker’s new dedicated manufacturing line with Asteelflash, which will produce several electronic components for its NX Horizon utility-scale solar trackers and other products. Asteelflash has expanded its manufacturing capabilities at its 197,000 square foot facility in Fremont, California in a multi-million-dollar joint investment.
“This commitment with Nextracker marks an important step forward in Clearway’s broader domestic content strategy and in our industry’s progress on providing reliable, resilient energy,” said Craig Cornelius, CEO of Clearway. “With Nextracker’s precise control over tracker row angles and rapid stowing capabilities in extreme weather conditions, our growing fleet will set new standards of module protection and help ensure the reliability and resilience of the solar industry.”
Nextracker reports that it has delivered more than 75 GW of its NX Horizon smart solar tracking systems. By adding the TrueCapture smart control systems, energy production has been found to increase up to 6%. Further advantages include the ability to handle varied site terrain and changing weather conditions, which Nextracker reports is the result of its independent-row architecture and optimization in response to data collected from thousands of sensors across its built-in wireless network.
“We’re pleased to be extending our partnership with Clearway Energy Group with this two-gigawatt VCA,” said Dan Shugar, Nextracker founder and CEO. “Clearway is a long-time esteemed customer and we’re appreciative that they recognize the value of our high performing NX Horizon solar tracker platform and TrueCapture software that optimizes energy yield while helping to protect the system. Volume agreements like this help us further establish our national supply chain footprint with US-made components.”
Nextracker posted $1.5 billion in revenues in 2022, delivering 16 GW of trackers globally. The company has shipped over 75 GW of trackers across more than 800 projects. It has over 200 active customers, and reports that 86% return for repeat business. The company estimates it offsets over 104 million metric tons of carbon emissions annually.
