Total, the French-based energy giant, announced this Friday it had expanded its U.S. solar portfolio, with the acquisition of a 2,2 GW pipeline of solar projects located in Texas.
Firstly, the pipeline acquired by Total is still under development, and it was bought from SunChase Power; a renewable energy company focused on utility-scale developments; and also from the energy investment firm MAP RE/ES.
Announcement also comes simultaneously as Total announced a joint venture with 174 Power Global, for the development of 1,6 GW in the United states market.
Additionally, the acquisition contemplates 600 MW of storage capacity assets, which will be adjacent to the solar portfolio. Secondly, the pipeline consists in four full-scale solar projects. Thirdly, each will have co-located battery energy storage systems.
Solar portfolio will also provide with renewable power to the industrial area of Houston, which has a high demand for electricity. Accordingly, Total’s operations in the U.S. will leverage 1GW of this production for its industrial sites in the U.S.
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Solar portfolio to expand total’s solar presence in the U.S.
Among the facilities that will be covered by this power purchase agreement are Total’s Port Arthur refinery, its petrochemicals platform of La Porte and Carville.
Solar projects will come online between 2023 and 2024. Although the remuneration paid to Sunchase and MAP RE/ES was not disclosed, Total said in the statement it will be a staged payment as the project advances.
Finally, Patrick Pouyanné, Total’s CEO, said. “I am very pleased that Total is further contributing to the development of solar power in the U.S;” and also added: “we look forward to taking advantage of the many growth opportunities in the U.S. market; indeed to address the challenges of the energy transition.”
“With this latest acquisition, Total is now developing close to 4 GW of renewable power capacity in the U.S.; thus contributing to our objective to reach close to 35 GW of renewable generation capacity by 2025.”
