A flurry of project activity in the US this week, with Geronimo Power, Avangrid and DTE Energy reaching key milestones at solar projects in Ohio, California and Michigan, respectively.
Geronimo starts operations at 167.5MW Ohio solar portfolio
Geronimo has started commercial operations at two Ohio projects, the 120MW Ross County and 47.5MW Fayette facilities, built in the counties of the same name.
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These are the first projects to being operation since Geronimo announced a rebrand, from its old name of National Grid Renewables, last week, although the company’s focus on building new renewable power capacity in the US remains the same.
Alongside the Ross and Fayette projects, Geronimo’s Ohio portfolio includes the 274MW Yellowbud project, at which operations started in 2023, and the Dodson Creek and Sycamore Creek projects, at which construction is currently underway.
Both projects have a capacity of 117MW, and once completed, Geronimo will have a total operating capacity in Ohio of more than 675MW. Geronimo has said that it has over 2GW of power generation capacity yin operation, with a development portfolio of a further 20GW.
“The addition of Ross and Fayette to our Ohio operating portfolio brings our collective projected economic impact to more than US$160 million across the Buckeye state,” said Blake Nixon, president and CEO of Geronimo.
Avangrid begins operations at first solar project in California
In California, Avangrid has achieved commercial operations at its 57MW Camino Solar project in Kern County, its seventh project to enter commercial operation in the state, and the first solar facility. The project is built next to the company’s 189MW Manzana wind farm, and the start of operations has pushed the company’s total operating renewable power capacity in the state to around 600MW.
While Avangrid’s work in the Californian energy sector has historically focused on wind, the state remains a leader in the US solar industry. According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), solar accounted for 16% of the state’s total net electricity generation in 2023, the last year for which the EIA has published figures, almost three times the contribution of the state’s wind sector.
However, solar has also been curtailed during periods of low prices to a far greater extent than any other energy source. According to the EIA, in 2024, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) curtailed 3.4TWh of utility-scale wind and solar output, a 29% year-on-year increase, with solar accounting for 93% of all energy curtailed on the California grid last year. Uncertainty regarding the future of solar curtailment in the state could have encouraged Avangrid to invest in a diverse range of renewable energy technologies.
The news also follows the company’s start of commercial operations at a 202MW solar project in Ohio earlier this year.
DTE completes construction at latest Michigan project
DTE has completed cosntruction at its 100MW Polaris Solar Park in the state of Michigan.
The company expects to commission the project, in the Washington and North Star townships in Michigan’s Gratiot County, this summer, and will be DTE’s third solar project to connect to a local grid this year. The project is one of a portfolio of six Michigan solar projects that DTE expects to reach commercial operation in the coming years, which began with the commissioning of the 150MW Sauk Solar project last year.
While Michigan has not been a historic leader in the US solar sector – the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) reports that the state had the 25th-most operating capacity among the US states as of the first quarter of this year – the state could be primed for considerable growth. SEIA expects developers to add 5.6GW of new solar capacity in the next five years, the 12th-most among US states, and Michigan added over 500MW of new capacity in both 2023 and 2024.
“DTE is committed to growing our portfolio of clean, Michigan-made renewable energy as part of our broader generation mix to support the evolving energy needs of our customers,” said Matt Paul, president and chief operating officer, DTE Electric. “This continues to be the most active period of renewable energy development in DTE’s history.”
