Longroad Energy commences construction of Umbriel solar project
Published by Jessica Casey,
Editor
Energy Global,
Longroad Energy, a US-based renewable energy developer, owner, and operator, has announced financial close and commencement of construction of Umbriel Solar, a 202 MWdc (150 MWac) photovoltaic (PV) project located in Polk County, Texas. Umbriel is Longroad’s sixth greenfield renewable energy project in Texas to reach financial close and is the company’s first project in Texas’s MISO footprint. Development of Umbriel began in 2017, and the project is expected to reach commercial operations by the end of this year.
“Texas continues to be an attractive market for solar development, and we are pleased to achieve financial close and begin construction on Umbriel,” said Adam Horwitz, VP of Origination and Development Operations at Longroad Energy. “Umbriel’s closing marks over 1.7 GW of total wind and solar projects developed, financed, and built in Texas by the Longroad team. Thank you to our many project participants and partners who made reaching this important milestone possible.”
Umbriel’s total output, enough to power more than 30 000 homes, will be purchased by Entergy Texas Inc. (ETI) via a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA).
“Umbriel Solar marks a major milestone, as it will be our first solar resource to come online, further diversifying our portfolio,” added Abigail Weaver, Entergy Texas Director of resource planning and market operations. “Our communities are increasingly asking for clean-energy offerings, and this facility will provide affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy for years to come.”
The debt facilities were provided by Zions Capital Markets as a Co-ordinating Lead Arranger and Administrative Agent, Silicon Valley Bank as a Co-ordinating Lead Arranger, and Rabobank as a Joint Lead Arranger. Longroad separately arranged tax equity for Umbriel.
“We are pleased to have taken a leadership role in the financing for this important solar project,” commented Robert Park, Head of Power & Project Finance at Zions Capital Markets. “This continues the longstanding relationship between Longroad and Zions.”
The project will be constructed by McCarthy Building Companies. During con-struction, Umbriel is projected to employ close to 300 people.
The major project vendors include:
- Domestically supplied Series 6/6+ modules by First Solar.
- PV inverters supplied by Power Electronics.
- Trackers supplied by Nextracker.
- Operations and maintenance services will be provided by NovaSource and by Longroad’s affiliate, Longroad Energy Services.
Umbriel is expected to achieve avoided emissions of approximately 250 000 tpy of carbon dioxide emissions, the equivalent of taking approximately 55 000 gasoline-powered cars off the road for each year that the project is operating.
During operations, the project is projected to generate over US$9 million for the Livingston Independent School District, and over US$4 million in tax revenue to Polk County.
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Read the article online at: https://www.energyglobal.com/solar/08022023/longroad-energy-commences-construction-of-umbriel-solar-project/
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