US utility AES Corporation built 3.5GW of renewable energy generation projects in 2023, led by solar PV installations.
In its deployment report for the year, the AES said that it built 1.6GW of solar PV projects, 1.3GW of wind and 600MW of energy storage capacity across its active markets. These deployments surpassed AES’ 3.4GW target which it set in February 2023, 2.1GW of which it predicted to be deployed in the US.
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Notable among these were the 200MW Great Cove Solar project in Pennsylvania, which is being commissioned in multiple phases. The site has a power purchase agreement (PPA) in place with the University of Pennsylvania for the entirety of its capacity.
Another is the McFarland A solar-plus-storage site, a 200MW/100MW co-located project in Yuma County, Arizona.
“In 2023, AES completed the construction of 3.5GW of new renewables. This construction milestone represents a new record and a growth rate of nearly 100% over 2022,” said Andrés Gluski, AES president and CEO. “Including these newly added projects, AES’ portfolio of renewables now reaches 18.4 GW.”
In addition to the projects it built last year, AES acquired the huge 2GW Bellefield solar-plus-storage project from its developer, Avantus in June. Located in Kern County, California, the site is due to be commissioned across two phases in 2025 and 2026, each with 500MW of solar and 500MWh of four-hour duration battery storage.
According to data from Wood Mackenzie, the US installed 33GW of solar PV last year, a record high in its history.