1,310 MW Samson Project Continues C&I Powered Solar Push In US

Invenergy’s 1,310 MW Samson Solar Energy Center has purchase contracts from  AT&T, Honda, McDonald’s, Google and The Home Depot.  

Invenergy recently announced plans to start construction of a 1,310 MW solar energy facility, which will be the biggest stand alone one yet in the US . Invenergy is a  privately-held global developer and operator of sustainable energy solutions, and the project is currently being developed in northeast Texas. The Samson Solar Energy Center will be taking care of the energy requirements for their sustainability objectives of five leading firms. Along with them, three Texas municipalities will be supplied as well. 

The Samson Center, one of the many developments by the company powering daily American life, will be supplying:

AT&T – 500 MW

Honda – 200 MW 

McDonald’s – 160 MW

Google – 100 MW

The Home Depot – 50 MW

AT&T

Scott Mair, president of AT&T Technology & Operations, said, “At AT&T, we believe renewable energy is good for the planet, for our business, and for the communities we serve. With more than 1.5 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity, our portfolio delivers clean electricity to the grid, helps to create jobs and community benefits, and supports the transition to a low-carbon economy. We’re excited to participate in Invenergy’s Samson project through the largest corporate solar energy deal in the U.S.”

The telecom giant has set 2035 as the year by which it achieves carbon neutrality. They have six areas on which they are planning to focus to get there. Some things in motion are:

• They plan to replace energy-intensive network equipment with energy-efficient hardware in order to consume less power and lower their carbon footprint.
• They will be switching to hybrid vehicles so as to optimise routes for their operations fleet. 

McDonald’s

In early July, they opened a newly remodeled restaurant at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. This outlet is fully dependent on on-site power generation and the 8,024-square-foot location is thus unique, because of its net-zero-energy status. It is capable of creating 7,07,79 KwH of electricity per annum. This is possible because of two reasons: solar panels on the rooftop as well scattered in the parking lot with photovoltaic glass for an extra boost. Sensors have been installed as well that put the kitchen equipment in standby mode so that there is lesser consumption of energy when the weather conditions are not favorable.  

Google

After declaring their carbon neutrality in 2007 , Google has been committed to eliminating their carbon footprint entirely. By 2030, they aim to employ only carbon-free sources for energy. This means that all their offices, campuses and data centres will be running on renewable energy all the time, which is a huge undertaking. They will need to actually develop new clean-energy sources. The company is also planning to help get 5 GW of new carbon-free energy sources online by the year 2030. This will be done across regions where they have physical resources that require access to clean power. 

Honda US had meanwhile completed two virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs) for renewable power to be produced in Texas and Oklahoma last year. These new agreements help the company offset carbon from the energy it consumes at its manufacturing facilities.

This year,  Honda had a plan to purchase 530,000 Mwh per year from a wind farm in Oklahoma and then, in the fall of 2021, another 482,000 Mwh per year from a solar power facility in Texas. The plan was to secure 320 Mw of renewable energy, which it will then redistribute to local markets to offset its in-house, non-renewable energy consumption.

The Home depot has a target to achieve a 40 percent reduction in its carbon emissions by 2030 and a 50 percent reduction by 2035. Like Honda shifting to EV production eventually, Home Depot also aims to make a larger impact by selling energy efficiency products to its customers in a big way.