The US arm of French renewables developer EDF Renewables has commenced operations at the first phase of the Fox Squirrel solar PV plant in Ohio along with its Canadian energy company partner, Enbridge.
The newly-commissioned 150MWac/194MWp capacity is the first of three phases of the Fox Squirrel project. The second and largest will be 250MWac/325MWp and is expected online in mid-2024, whilst the third and final portion will add 177MWac/230MWp by the end of this year. Upon final completion the project will represent 749MWdc/577MWac of generating capacity, making it the ‘largest’ PV plant in Ohio.
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A total of 1.4 million PV modules and 159 inverters will be deployed at the site, EDF said. The company did not name a technology or suppliers, but in August 2023 it signed a substantial 7GW module supply deal with Chinese solar manufacturing giant Canadian Solar for delivery of tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) modules from 2024 through 2030. The modules will be produced at Canadian Solar’s new production facility in Mesquite, east of Dallas, Texas.
Fox Squirrel is contracted under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with an unnamed “investment grade counterparty” for its entire generation capacity. The partnership on this project was signed between Enbridge and EDF in November 2023. The two parties will share 50-50 ownership of the site once it is operational, and Enbridge committed a US$149 million investment into the first phase. It said that it would consider a final investment decision on the latter two stages by the end of the year.
“The development and operation of Phase 1 marks a significant milestone in our journey to drive Ohio’s future with clean, decarbonised electricity,” said Kate O’Hair, senior vice president for onshore development at EDF. “This project serves as a testament to the invaluable support from the county and community, highlighting their crucial role in ensuring the project’s success.”
In the fourth quarter last year EDF completed a 275MW PV project in the southwestern state of Nevada and two months prior it signed a 20-year PPA for a 150MW solar-plus-storage project in New Mexico.
The company has a framework agreement in place with US PV recycling firm Solarcycle for end-of-life modules from its US operations. Solarcycle conducts a “high value” recycling operation, seeking to salvage the most valuable components from a broken or retired module – such as silver and other valuable metals – as well as the bulk glass and framing, with a view to making recycling as cost-effective as possible.
