EDF Renewables North America, a subsidiary of French utility EDF, and its partner Enbridge have commenced operations at the 150MW Fox Squirrel Solar Phase 1 in Madison County, Ohio, US.
Upon completion of its three planned phases by the end of 2024, the Fox Squirrel Solar project will reach 577MW capacity.
The expansion will address the growing power demands of central Ohio, which are projected to double by 2028.
The solar facility consists of 1.4 million solar panels and 159 inverters.
EDF Renewables North America onshore development senior vice-president Kate O’Hair stated: “The development and operation of Phase 1 marks a significant milestone in our journey to drive Ohio’s renewable energy future.
“With Fox Squirrel Solar Phase 1 now supplying renewable power to the PJM [Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland] grid, this project not only represents a substantial financial commitment but also highlights the remarkable collaboration between our team, the county and the local community. We take great pride in this collective effort.”
During the inauguration, Amazon secured power purchase agreements for the entire output of Fox Squirrel Solar Phase 1.
The agreement aligns with Amazon's objective to operate entirely on renewable energy by 2030.
AWS global data centres vice-president Kevin Miller stated: “Amazon is the world’s largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy. As part of that journey, we’re proud to enable new solar and wind projects in Ohio that will not only help power our operations, but also provide carbon-free energy to the local communities where our customers, vendors and employees live and work.
“Projects like Fox Squirrel Solar are also helping create jobs, support local businesses and boost the local tax base ... all part of Amazon’s commitment to become a more sustainable company.”
Blattner Energy serves as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the project.
In November 2023, EDF Renewables North America launched the Arrow Canyon solar plus storage project in Nevada.
Located on the Moapa Indian Reservation, the project includes 275MW of solar capacity and a 75MW five-hour battery energy storage system, and features 621,000 bifacial solar photovoltaic modules and 564 battery storage segments.
