Colorado-based electricity distributor CORE Electric Cooperative has penned a wholesale power supply agreement with power generation developer Invenergy, which will give CORE access to an additional 1.2TWh of renewable energy a year.
Expected to begin in 2026, the additional capacity will come via 400MW of new solar and wind projects and 100MW of battery storage, as well as an existing 300MW of natural gas resources. CORE said that the agreement will cover the lion’s share of its wholesale energy requirements, stabilising its costs and, by extension, those of its consumers.
“This partnership between Invenergy and CORE signifies a key moment in Colorado’s clean energy transition,” said Jim Shield, senior EVP and development business leader at Invenergy.
In December, the Bureau of Land Management and secretary of the interior Deb Haaland announced plans to expand solar deployments of public land in the western US. Colorado was highlighted as one of the states to be assessed for land with high solar potential and low resource conflict.
CORE Electric Cooperative, a non-profit member-owned company, has a target to reduce its carbon emissions by 80% by 2030 and to establish more battery storage and other technologies in its Colorado portfolio. It said that this agreement, which has a 20-year lifespan, would accelerate its progress in these regards.
Invenergy currently has seven renewable energy projects in operation across Colorado, in addition to the new capacity that will be brought online under this agreement.
In January last year, Invenergy closed a US$3 billion investment from asset manager Blackstone, which it said would help it to accelerate the build-out of its solar projects.