National Grid Renewables has begun operations on the 247MW Yellowbud solar PV project in Ohio, delivering power to online delivery giant Amazon under a pre-arranged power purchase agreement (PPA).
Located across Ross and Pickaway Counties in the south of the state, the 2,000-acre project will power Amazon’s operations in Ohio. The company has committed to being 100% powered by renewable energy by 2025.
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National Grid Renewables, a subsidiary of UK-owned National Grid, did not clarify the module supplier or technology deployed at Yellowbud, but the company has long-term supply deals with US cadmium-telluride thin film solar manufacturer First Solar and has deployed its modules at previous sites.
“Yellowbud represents a long-standing commitment to bring renewable energy and economic benefit to Ohio residents,” said Blake Nixon, president of National Grid Renewables. “It’s both rewarding and exciting to see the project reach this pivotal point. We are proud to work with customers like Amazon, who share our community-focused values and not only help to bring clean, solar resources onto the electric grid, but also support our efforts to maximise a project’s local economic and social benefits.”
National Grid Renewables said that the project has emphasised local companies and workers in its development and construction, including local landscape company Optimal Outdoor Solutions, which recently secured a contract for mowing on the project site.
Amazon is one of the largest purchasers of renewable power in the world, totting up 8.3GW of new capacity additions in 2022 alone and a total portfolio of over 20GW. Indeed, last year was a record-setting one for corporate PPA volumes, with companies signing deals for 36.7GW of capacity across the world, an 18% increase year-on-year.
Jeff Bezos’ company has solar PPAs in place across the world to power its data centres, warehouse operations and physical stores. In December last year, the company signed a 600MW framework agreement with Canadian asset owner Brookfield to power three Amazon facilities in the US, three in Europe and one in India. It also has a separate, 300MW solar and wind portfolio in place in India.