Avangrid, Inc. and Portland General Electric (PGE) announced the signing of a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for Tower Solar, a new solar energy project now under construction in Morrow County.
Avangrid is a sustainable energy company and member of the Iberdrola Group. Avangrid and PGE signed a Power Purchase Agreement for Tower Solar, a new 120 MWac (166 MWdc) solar energy project in Morrow County. They are collaborating with QTS and Meta on the project.
According to a press release from Avangrid, the facility will deliver clean, renewable energy to Portland General Electric’s grid through Green Future Impact (GFI), a voluntary program designed to help large commercial, industrial, and municipal customers meet their ambitious sustainability and carbon reduction goals through the development of new clean energy facilities in our region.
Subscribers to PGE’s GFI program enroll in a bundled renewable energy product and receive the Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) associated with the energy generated from the new facility. PGE’s subscription pricing is designed to avoid cost shifting to non-participating customers.
Under PGE’s GFI program, QTS, a leading data center solutions provider, is developing a data center campus to support Meta’s operations in the region that will be supported by renewable energy from Tower Solar, helping to meet Meta’s sustainability and 100% renewable energy goals.
“We are pleased to work closely with some of our largest customers to develop another utility-scale solar project in Oregon, the home-base for Avangrid’s onshore renewable energy business,” said Pedro Azagra, Avangrid CEO. “Projects like this are important to furthering the country’s energy independence and represent our continued investment in the region with new jobs and tax revenue.”
Tower Solar will be located just west of Boardman and located on about 900 acres of industrially zoned land owned by the Port of Morrow near the Boardman Airport. The project will utilize more than 200,000 solar panels.
At the peak of construction, Avangrid expects Tower Solar to create more than 200 jobs, the vast majority of which will be sourced from the region. Tower Solar is expected to pay about $20 million in combined PILOTs (payment in lieu of taxes) and property taxes which will support a variety of public services, including education.
