Avangrid Connecting 120-MW Oregon Solar Farm to the Pacific Northwest Grid

Solar developer Avangrid has connected its newly constructed 120-MW Tower Solar project to the regional electric grid in Morrow County, Oregon.

Iberolda-owned Avangrid Inc.’s Tower Solar farm sits on about 900 acres of industrially zoned land owned by the Port of Morrow. The project consists of more than 250,000 solar panels assembled by SEG Solar at its manufacturing facility in Houston.

Once fully commissioned by the state of Oregon, this project will help support the region’s Quality Technology Services operations and deliver energy directly to Portland General Electric (PGE) through a voluntary program called the Green Future Impact. Commercial operation of Tower Solar is expected later this year.

The Green Future Impact program was designed to help large municipal, commercial, and industrial customers meet sustainability and decarbonization goals through the new development of clean energy facilities. According to a release, PGE’s volunteer program allows these large customers, who foot the extra cost, to choose non-emitting energy without increasing costs for average ratepayers. All ratepayers, however, benefit from the same clean energy through zero-cost-shifting protections even as it supports broad zero-emission regulatory objectives.

“As demand for electricity continues to grow across the United States and in the Pacific Northwest, projects like Tower Solar are essential to delivering new generation at scale,” said Avangrid CEO Jose Antonio Miranda in a statement. “Furthermore, this project demonstrates how investment in America’s electrical infrastructure contributes to our domestic economy, supports union workers, and delivers reliable electricity to support the region’s growth.”

According to Avangrid, the Tower Solar project is expected to make localized financial arrangements to pay close to $20 million to directly support community-related initiatives and help pay for public services like education through PILOTs (Payments in Lieu of Taxes). Roughly 200 construction jobs were created through this project during its initial phases, with many reportedly filled by regional union labor.

Currently, Avangrid operates over 11 GW of installed capacity across 25 states, which includes roughly 100 energy projects, the company states.

Avangrid is expanding its solar capacity in Oregon, including a Power Purchase Agreement with Amazon for the Oregon Trail Solar project in Gilliam County. The tech giant will purchase 57 MW of utility-scale solar photovoltaic power from the Oregon Trail Solar project to support its regional data centers.

 Operations at Oregon Trail Solar are expected by 2027.