Super Bowl LVIII was powered entirely by renewable power, with an EDF Renewables solar-plus-storage project in Nevada meeting the energy demands of the final game of the 2023 NFL season.
The game, which took place on 11 February, 2024, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, required 28MWh of electricity, according to climate tracker NZero, which was provided by EDF’s Arrow Canyon project. The solar-plus-storage project has a power generation capacity of 275MW, alongside a 5-hour battery energy storage (BESS) facility with a capacity of 75MW, which reached commercial operation last November.
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The project uses bifacial panels from manufacturer Canadian Solar, and a BESS delivered by a “tier one energy storage system supplier”, although EDF Renewables did not name a company involved in the manufacture and delivery of the battery systems.
According to the US Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), Nevada has one of the largest solar markets in the US, with 6.2GW of capacity installed as of the third quarter of 2023. The SEIA also notes that US$10.9 billion has been invested into the state’s solar sector, and expects developers to install 7GW of new capacity over the next five years, as Nevada looks to meet half of its energy demand with renewables by 2030, up from 22% in 2020.
The Las Vegas Raiders, the stadium’s occupants, signed a 25-year power purchase agreement with Nevada utility NV Energy to acquire power generated at the project last October, and made headlines for hosting the first-ever NFL game to be powered exclusively with renewable energy when the team hosted the Green Bay Packers a few days later.
This weekend saw the first Super Bowl take place to be powered entirely by electricity generated from renewable sources, and the use of solar power to meet the energy demands of one of the US sports industry’s showpiece events could be an important proof of concept for the growth of renewable power in the US.
“Allegiant’s decision to go solar will save them millions in electricity costs while helping the stadium curb its emissions,” announced Abigal Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the SEIA on LinkedIn prior to the game. “Plus, every one of the 65,000+ fans attending the big game on Sunday can feel good knowing that every screen, camera and popcorn machine is powered by the sun!”
The news follows EDF Renewables’ commissioning of the first phase of a 749MW solar project in Ohio last month, as the company looks to expand its footprint in the US.
