Renewable energy producer EDP Renewables announced that its subsidiary EDP Renewables North America (EDPR NA), and Meta (Facebook), which is one of the largest corporate buyers of renewable energy, have got into a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA). This is for 156 MW at the 240 MW Cattlemen Solar Park in Milam County, Texas.
Cattlemen marks the second PPA EDPR and Meta have executed, with the first being a 139 MW PPA for the 200 MW Headwaters II Wind Farm in Indiana.
EDPR NA will construct, own, and operate Cattlemen Solar Park, which has an investment of approximately $280 million and which is likely to be operational in 2023.
This project will annually power the equivalent of more than 37,000 average Texas homes and save approximately 304 million gallons of water a year. It will also provide economic benefits by way of payments to local landowners, taxes paid to support essential community services and job opportunities during the project's construction and operations, among others.
Speaking about the development, Head of Renewable Energy at Meta Urvi Parekh said, "As our global infrastructure continues to grow, partnerships like the one with EDP Renewables are increasingly important for us to meet our ambitious sustainability goals. Investing in local communities is important to us, and we are proud that this project is bringing new solar energy to the grid, providing construction jobs, and contributing to local water savings."
Echoing similar sentiments, CEO of EDP & EDPR Miguel Stilwell d'Andrade said, EDP Renewables is pleased to collaborate, once again, with Meta on another renewable energy project. Projects like Cattlemen Solar Park reinforce our commitment to accelerate the energy transition, while providing clean energy and economic support and opportunities to the local communities in which we operate."
Both the companies are also partnering for EDPR's 200 MW Randolph Solar Park, where the entire capacity of the project will be dedicated to supporting Meta's data center in Mesa, Arizona. In total, EDPR and Meta are working together to bring 495 MW of renewable energy to the grid, supplying to Meta's goal of supporting its global operations with 100 percent renewable energy.
In November 2021, EDPR had acquired a 87.4% stake in Singapore headquartered solar energy player Sunseap Group for an investment worth €600 million (see EDPR Invests In Singapore's Sunseap)