Construction begins on Pflugerville Solar Project
PFLUGERVILLE, Texas - Construction has begun on the Pflugerville Solar Project, a utility-scale solar project approved by Austin City Council in 2018. Austin Energy says the project will provide low-cost solar energy to its customers for 15 years, following the start of the operation, and will expand Austin Energy's solar capacity to nearly 966 megawatts.
Austin Energy has also entered into a long-term Power Purchase Agreement with Canadian Solar Inc and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Recurrent Energy, LLC to purchase the renewable energy generated from the placonsunt.
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“Austin Energy is thankful for the support from City Council to bring these resources to our customers. We are thrilled about this partnership with Recurrent Energy on the Pflugerville Solar Project,” said Austin Energy General Manager Jackie Sargent. “The project not only expands our renewable portfolio and advances our climate protection goals, it is located close to our customer base. It’s affordable and enables us to continue to demonstrate Austin Energy’s fiscal responsibility and environmental leadership. This project is a win-win.”
Austin Energy says that about 40 percent of its customers' energy needs are met with renewable resources and that with the Pflugerville Solar Project, the utility is expected to become 52 percent renewable in 2021, getting closer to its goal of 65 percent renewable energy by 2027.
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The agreement does not require Austin Energy to invest any funds in the construction, operation, or maintenance of the project expected to be operational in 2021, says the utility. Austin Energy has the option to purchase the solar facility at a future date.
Austin Energy says the project is expected to create long-term permanent jobs to support operation and maintenance, as well as more than 350 construction jobs with at least 50 percent performed by local workers. The project will also provide additional tax revenues for Travis County and Elgin ISD, which will total approximately $350 million throughout the life of the project.