Enel Green Power begins work on large solar farm in West Texas

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Enel Green Power North America, the company that made $2.7 billion dollars in investments in wind power in Oklahoma just started work this week on a massive solar plant in Upton County, Texas.
Once completed, the 497 MW Roadrunner plant will be the largest solar facility in the company.s U.S. portfolio. It is also Enel Green Power’s second project in Texas. The 450 MW High Lonesome wind project started in January.

“This plant is the latest major milestone for Enel’s operations in the US renewable market, where we have already started construction of projects for almost 1 GW this year,” said Georgios Papadimitriou, Head of Enel Green Power North America. “The US market is rich with opportunities for growth and has an increasing appetite for sustainable electricity. Projects like Roadrunner are indicative of our ability to capitalize on this trend, while boosting the diversity of the business both in geography and technology.”

Roadrunner is expected to enter into operation in two phases. The first phase, comprised of around 252 MW is expected to be complete by the end of 2019, while the remaining 245 MW of capacity is expected to be up and running by the end of 2020.

Once fully operational, the solar plant will be able to generate approximately 1.2 TWh annually, while avoiding the emission of more than 800,000 million tons of CO2 per year.

In Texas, Enel Green Power North America currently operates the 63 MW Snyder wind farm, located in Scurry County and is currently constructing the 450 MW High Lonesome wind project, a portion of which is also located in Upton County, Texas.

Enel Green Power North America is part of Italian-based Enel Group’s global renewable energy line. Enel has about 5 GW of renewable capacity including hydropower, wind and solar.

Enel Green Power first entered Oklahoma in 2012 with the start of operations of its first wind farm. Now the company has 10 wind farms that produce 6,950 GWh annually, that’s enough electricity to power every household in Oklahoma City for a year and a half. EGP is a top five taxpayer in every county where their power plants are located with an estimated $317-million in property tax payments over the life of its wind farms benefitting school districts, local services for county governments, municipalities and libraries.

Last year, Enel Green Power opened offices in Oklahoma City.