WWW.POWERMAG.COM
Google has entered into long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Texas-based Leeward Renewable Energy (LRE) to support more than 700 MW of solar power projects in Oklahoma. Google on Jan. 16 said, “the projects are strategically located to support our data center operations,” noting that one installation is “located less than one mile from our data center in Pryor, Oklahoma.”
LRE in a news release said the three solar farms together will have 724 MW of solar power generation capacity. The projects include the 372-MW Mayes County Solar Portfolio, which includes three projects and is located near Google’s data center in Pryor. The other installations are Twelvemile Solar Project 1 & 2, which together have 152.5 MW of capacity, and the 200-MW Twelvemile 3 Solar Project. The three Twelvemile solar farms are located in Southern Oklahoma.
“We are proud to expand our presence in Oklahoma with these projects which are ideally located to support Google’s data center operations,” said Eran Mahrer, chief commercial officer at LRE. “This partnership with Google not only strengthens our collaboration but also contributes to the reliability of Oklahoma’s electric grid and helps advance national energy independence. By utilizing domestically manufactured equipment and creating job opportunities for Oklahomans, these projects deliver tangible benefits to local communities navigating the energy transition. They underscore our commitment to responsible development and fostering economic growth in regions critical to the future of energy.”
Some groups within Oklahoma want the state’s Republican governor, Kevin Stitt, to issue an executive order banning construction of new renewable energy projects within the state. Gentner Drummond, the state’s attorney general, led a recent rally at the state capitol in which he called for a ban. Oklahoma’s economy long has relied on oil and gas exploration, though the state also is the nation’s third-largest generator of wind energy and is experiencing rapid growth in solar power.
Stitt has said he values renewable energy for the jobs it creates in the state. The governor in a social media post last year wrote, “Oklahoma is an oil and gas state through and through, but we also generate about 47% of our electricity from renewable sources. I just don’t think the government should pick winners and losers or force us to choose between one or the other.”
Major Solar Power Deal
Despite the anti-renewable sentiment among some in the state, deals supporting cleaner energy continue. LRE recently bought the Mayes County Solar Portfolio from Red River Renewable Energy, a joint venture between SunChase Power and Eolian. The electricity generated by the solar farms will be delivered under firm transmission service to the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA), which will use the power to support operations at Google’s data center.
“By partnering with Grand River Dam Authority and LRE, Google is furthering its ambition to power our facilities, including those in Oklahoma, with carbon-free energy around the clock by 2030,” said Amanda Peterson Corio, Global Head of Data Center Energy at Google. “These power purchase agreements demonstrate how our scalable procurement approach is transforming the acquisition of clean energy and accelerating the development of carbon-free energy sources.”
“We began development of these energy projects in 2017, intentionally co-locating solar sites adjacent to Google’s data center load at Pryor to directly inject clean electricity into the grid at the point of consumption,” said Aaron Zubaty, CEO of Eolian. “The addition of more than 700 MWac of new solar resources at carefully chosen locations will enable more efficient utilization of the regional transmission network and enhance grid resilience while also directly enabling customer expansion. In a time of growing electricity demand to power our overall economy, these solar projects provide a very tangible and real solution.”
Mayes County Portfolio
The Mayes County Solar Portfolio consists of three projects: the 145-MW Salt Branch Solar, the 125-MW Huckleberry Solar, and the 102-MW Mayes Solar. LRE said the projects will create more than 300 jobs during construction and contribute an estimated $76 million in tax revenue to Mayes County over their lifespan.
The PPAs were facilitated through LEAP, or LevelTen Energy’s Accelerated Process, which was co-developed by Google and LevelTen Energy to make sourcing and executing clean energy PPAs more efficient. The projects will contribute to Google’s 2030 goal to run on 24/7 carbon-free energy on every grid where it operates.
“We are seeing a dramatic increase in the demand for reliable electricity throughout the country. Google’s support for these solar projects in Oklahoma is a testament to their commitment to help meet the state’s growing energy needs with secure, sustainable solutions,” said John Wiscaver, executive vice president at GRDA. “Google is a valuable partner to GRDA, and we look forward to helping them meet their future power needs while continuing to foster economic growth in the GRDA communities of Northeast Oklahoma.”
“SunChase is proud to see these Mayes County solar energy projects moving forward, bringing utility-scale solar power to a fast-growing part of the state where it will support continued economic development with clean energy,” said Teran Smith, vice president of SunChase Power.
