Avangrid, a leading energy company and member of the Iberdrola Group, has announced that it has completed the installation of more than 250,000 American-made SEG Solar panels at its Tower Solar project in Morrow County, Oregon, the panels assembled domestically by SEG at its new Houston manufacturing facility. Avangrid continues to work on other aspects of the project ahead of commercial operation expected later this year, when the 166 MWdc (120 MWac) project will deliver energy to the Portland General Electric (PGE) power grid and help support a new QTS data centre campus in the region.
“This is a major milestone for Tower Solar and demonstrates how investment in America’s energy infrastructure drives economic growth nationwide,” commented Avangrid CEO Jose Antonio Miranda. “Assembling modules in Texas supported U.S. jobs and manufacturing, project construction is building the local workforce and, once complete, operations will reinforce the region’s grid with new power to support growing demand.”
SEG CEO Jim Wood added: “SEG Solar is proud to support Avangrid’s Tower Solar project by supplying high-quality modules manufactured at our Houston facility. This project reflects our continued commitment to product quality, manufacturing excellence, and building strong partnerships across the U.S. market.”
Tower Solar is located just west of Boardman, Oregon and sits on some 900 acres of industrially zoned land owned by the Port of Morrow. Avangrid created approximately 200 construction jobs that were filled mostly with regional union labour. Tower Solar is expected to pay about $20 million in combined PILOTs (payment in lieu of taxes) and property taxes which will support a variety of public services, including education.
Tower Solar will deliver electricity to PGE’s grid through Green Future Impact (GFI), a voluntary program designed to help large municipal, commercial, and industrial customers meet their ambitious sustainability and carbon reduction targets through the development of new clean energy facilities in the region. PGE’s GFI program allows large customers to choose non-emitting energy without increasing costs for other customers. All customers benefit from the energy, but program participants pay the extra cost of the clean energy they select.