The Diplomat
Iberdrola, through Avangrid, its subsidiary in the United States, has begun installing the first of the 105,000 solar modules that will form the ‘Camino Solar’ photovoltaic park in California, according to a statement released yesterday by the energy company headed by Ignacio Sánchez Galán.
With a capacity of 57 megawatts (MW), ‘Camino Solar’ is expected to generate the same amount of energy consumed by some 14,000 American families per year, which is a population similar to that of Miranda de Ebro (Burgos).
The group indicated that this project demonstrates Iberdrola’s commitment to increasing renewable capacity in the United States.
It also highlighted that solar energy represents a complement to the “large” wind fleet that the company has in the US with the aim of accelerating the transition to a “clean and independent” economy from fossil fuels.
The Camino project is expected to create around 100 jobs during construction, mostly locally, and generate around $15 million (€13.6 million) in state and local taxes over its lifetime.
This new photovoltaic plant is located next to Iberdrola’s Manzana wind farm, which has been injecting 189 MW of renewable energy into the country since 2012.
When construction is complete, Camino will become the tenth solar project in the company’s portfolio in the United States and the first in California.
Iberdrola has six other wind energy projects in California, ranging from San Diego County to the Bay Area, with a combined operating capacity of more than 500 MW.
These wind farms have generated a total of $88 million (€79.7 million) in property taxes by the end of last year, supporting a variety of local public services.
The company recently surpassed 9 gigawatts (GW) of installed capacity across its portfolio of projects spread across nearly half of the US.
Late last week, Iberdrola was awarded a 791 MW contract to build the New England Wind 1 offshore wind farm.
When operational, the facility will provide clean, emissions-free energy to 400,000 homes, a population larger than the combined population of the Spanish provinces of Malaga and Bilbao.
The new farm will border Vineyard Wind 1, the country’s first large-scale offshore wind project, which the company is currently building 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, and will generate electricity for more than 400,000 homes and businesses in the state of Massachusetts.
