Solar developer Leeward Renewable Energy has commissioned its 179MW White Wing Ranch project in Yuma County, Arizona, which has expanded the company’s portfolio of operating projects to more than 3.3GW.
The news follows the company’s commissioning of the 196MW Big Plain Solar project in Ohio last October, and Leeward has signed a “long-term” power purchase agreement (PPA) with telecoms giant Verizon to sell power generated at the Arizona project.
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“We are pleased to begin operations at White Wing Ranch and support Verizon’s sustainability goals,” said Jason Allen, Leeward CEO. “We are excited for the future of renewable energy in the region and are committed to contributing meaningfully to the community throughout the lifespan of the project.”
The project is notable for its use of First Solar Series 7 PV modules, the latest range of panels produced by the US manufacturer, as the government looks to incentivise the domestic production of clean energy technology through initiatives such as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and 45X Advanced Manufacturing Production Tax Credit. First Solar commissioned its fourth manufacturing facility in the country last month, a plant in Alabama that will produce the Series 7 modules, which has pushed the manufacturer’s US-based production capacity to nearly 11GW.
The White Wing facility also generated headlines last year, when technology company Terabase Energy announced that it had used its Terafab automated construction system to install 17MW of the project’s total capacity. At the time, Terabase described its system as a “factory to make factories”, and the commissioning of a project that has made use of both advanced construction techniques and new, US-made modules is a positive development for the US solar sector.
According to the US Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), Arizona has the fifth-most installed solar capacity in the US, with 8.9GW of operating capacity as of the second quarter of this year. The association expects the state to add a further 11.2GW of new projects in the next five years, again the fifth-most among the US states.
