Spanish clean energy firm Matrix Renewables and US renewable developer rPlus Energies have started construction at the Pleasant Valley solar project which, when completed, will be the largest solar facility in the power of local utility Idaho Power.
The project has a capacity of 200MWac/200MWdc, and while the developers did not announce when they expect to complete construction work, or commission the project, they have already agreed partnered with a number of other companies to help deliver the project.
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These include Sundt Renewables, the clean energy wing of US construction company Sundt, which was brought in to provide engineering, procurement and construction services; US firm Nextracker, to provide racking; and Chinese solar manufacturer ET Solar, to provide modules.
“rPlus is proud to work with Meta and Idaho Power as long-term partners to help achieve their sustainability goals and manage the region’s transition to renewable energy,” said rPlus Energies president and CEO Luigi Resta. “We are equally proud to partner with Matrix Renewables, who share our deep respect and commitment to renewable power generation for Ada County and the surrounding community.”
The project’s affiliation with Meta is well-documented, with the two sides agreeing to a power purchase agreement in May this year, to provide a local data centre with renewable power. Three months later, Matrix Renewables acquired a controlling interest in the project, and has successfully started construction work on time, within the third quarter of this year, as originally planned.
The news follows a series of manufacturing and technology announcements for the US solar sector made at the RE+ conference this week. Longroad Energy has extended a module supply agreement with supplier First Solar, while Nextracker opened a new tracking manufacturing facility on the first day of the event, and positive developments at Pleasant Valley are a promising sign for the US solar sector, as it looks to solidify both its manufacturing and operations.
