Renewables developer and operator Leeward Renewable Energy has signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) with telecom company Verizon for a portfolio of four under-development solar and wind plants in the US with a combined capacity of 640MW.
PV projects included in the deal are the 200MW Horizon Solar installation, on which construction is due to begin in September in Frio County, Texas, and be completed by the end of 2023, and the 160MW White Wing Ranch Solar farm in Yuma County, Arizona, which is expected to be fully constructed before July 2024. Both projects will feature thin-film modules from First Solar.
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All four projects in the portfolio – which also includes two wind farms totalling 280MW – are backed by 15-year PPAs between Leeward and Verizon as part of the telecom company’s efforts to be net zero in its operational emissions (scope 1 and 2) by 2035.
The deal follows Verizon signing PPAs early last year for 845MW of solar capacity with Lightsource bp, Invenergy, EDF Renewables and NextEra Energy Resources.
Verizon has also previously penned PPAs with Leeward for the 196MW Big Plain PV plant in Ohio and the 100MW Oak Trail solar farm in North Carolina.
Leeward Renewable Energy is a subsidiary of OMERS Infrastructure, an investment arm of OMERS, a major Canadian pension fund.
Having acquired a 10GWac utility-scale solar development platform from First Solar early last year, Leeward now owns and operates a portfolio of 22 renewables facilities totalling 2GW across nine US states.
