CPS Energy is locating a 300-MW solar project in Goliad County, Texas, as the first part of its FlexPOWER Bundle initiative. This is one-third of the utility’s goal of adding 900 MW of sustainable energy to its power generation mix. The project, dubbed Peregrine Solar, is expected to increase CPS Energy’s total solar capacity to 852 MW once it comes online.
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Construction is scheduled to begin next year and is expected to add 250 – 300 temporary jobs with priority hiring from the San Antonio area.
The largest municipally owned electric and natural gas utility in the United States reached an agreement with Consolidated Edison Development, Inc., a subsidiary of Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses to finalize it. Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses will be solely responsible for the construction, operation, and maintenance costs of the project, while CPS Energy will acquire the solar energy produced at Peregrine through a Power Purchase Agreement of 25 years.
As part of the partnership agreement, Con Edison Development will contribute $500,000 over a 10-year period to support one of CPS Energy’s community priorities. Con Edison Development also will hire up to eight positions from Greater San Antonio and maintain $750,000 in annual spending with local suppliers and vendors through the life of the 25-year agreement.
This will result in a $19 million local investment for Bexar and Goliad counties.
The FlexPOWER Bundle initiative is meant to diversify CPS Energy’s power generation mix, adding up to 900 MW of solar, up to 50 MW of energy storage and up to 500 MW of firming capacity. The bundle is part of the utility’s wider plan to replace older generation with newer and cleaner technologies.
Launched in November 2020, a request for proposals for the FlexPOWER Bundle resulted in over 650 proposals from 100 companies across the U.S. and ten other nations, including Japan, England and South Korea. CPS Energy expects to finalize and award all FlexPOWER Bundle contracts within the next few months with the next solar selections expected in the coming weeks.
“This agreement is a significant step forward for the FlexPOWER Bundle initiative and our community’s clean energy strategy,” said Mayor Ron Nirenberg. “The way we generate power determines our ability to ensure a sustainable environment. San Antonio is making great advances toward carbon neutrality and CPS Energy’s continued leadership in renewable energy is making our progress possible.”
Currently, CPS Energy’s clean power generation portfolio includes 1,049 MW of wind, 552 MW of solar and 10 MW of battery storage resources.
Tags: utility-scale
