EDF Renewables North America announced they have entered into a Build and Transfer Agreement (BTA) with Tucson Electric Power (TEP) for the 247.4 megawatt (MW) Oso Grande Wind Project. EDF Renewables will complete development of the project and manage the construction process on behalf of TEP. Construction is expected to commence later this year with full operation by the end of 2020.
Oso Grande Wind Project, located in southeastern New Mexico, will include a total of 61 wind generating turbines. The output of these highly efficient turbines will be delivered to Tucson through existing transmission lines that connect to TEP’s transmission system in eastern Arizona.
“EDF Renewables is pleased to partner with TEP to supply cost-competitive, renewable energy to its customers from the Oso Grande Wind Project,” said Ryan Pfaff, Executive Vice President, Grid-Scale Power, EDF Renewables. “We look forward to assisting TEP in meeting its clean energy goals by completing Oso Grande in the second half of 2020.”
TEP President and CEO, David G. Hutchens, said, “This cost-effective system will become TEP’s largest renewable energy resource, accelerating our progress toward our clean energy goals while allowing us to help customers achieve their own sustainability objectives.”
When the project is complete, TEP’s renewable energy production is expected to exceed 28 percent of its retail sales. That level would more than double the state requirement for 2021 while approaching the 30 percent goal TEP has planned to achieve by 2030.
The expected annual energy production will be enough to meet the consumption of nearly 100,000 homes1. This is equivalent to avoiding nearly 688,000 metric tons of carbon (CO?) emissions annually which represents the greenhouse gas emissions from nearly 146,000 passenger vehicles driven over the course of one year2.
1 According to Tucson Electric Power 2018 Actual Energy Sales.
2 According to U.S. EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies calculations.
About EDF Renewables North America:
EDF Renewables North America is a market leading independent power producer and service provider with over 30 years of expertise in renewable energy. The Company delivers grid-scale power: wind (onshore and offshore), solar photovoltaic, and storage projects; distributed solutions: solar, solar+storage, EV charging and energy management; and asset optimization: technical, operational, and commercial skills to maximize performance of generating projects. EDF Renewables’ North American portfolio consists of 16 GW of developed projects and 10 GW under service contracts. EDF Renewables North America is a subsidiary of EDF Renewables, the dedicated renewable energy affiliate of the EDF Group.