RWE, a renewable energy company, has signed two 15-year Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with Microsoft Corporation. Under the PPAs, Microsoft will purchase clean electricity from two new RWE onshore wind farms in Texas.
The official groundbreaking for the RWE Peyton Creek II onshore wind farm recently took place, and for the Lane City project, RWE made the investment decision. The two onshore wind projects have a combined capacity of 446 MW.
“As RWE, we are excited to be working with Microsoft to provide the clean electricity they need to achieve their sustainability goals,” said Andrew Flanagan, CEO of RWE Clean Energy. “Together, we’re united in our efforts to deliver a clean energy future. As a growing green business, we are committed to driving our renewable targets and supporting local communities to grow sustainably.”
To build the Peyton Creek II and Lane City onshore wind farms, RWE has brought together renewable industry companies Vestas, Wanzek Construction, a MasTec Renewables company, and RES, a global renewable energy solutions company.
RWE will use the V163 4.5 MW turbines from Vestas North America. RWE has enlisted Wanzek and RES to lead construction activities at Peyton Creek II and Lane City on behalf of RWE.
Construction of the Peyton Creek Wind Complex is underway. The 243 MW project is located near RWE’s Peyton Creek I wind farm in Bay City, Texas, which has been in operation since March 2020. Construction of the Lane City project will start this summer. It has a capacity of 203 MW.
Texas is RWE’s largest U.S. market, with 33 operational renewable projects totaling 4.3 GW of installed capacity. Once the two projects are completed, RWE’s renewables footprint in Texas will grow to 4.8 GW. This will add to RWE’s current renewables portfolio in the U.S. of 9.3 GW across wind, solar, and batteries.
RWE recently added 599 MW of solar and energy storage projects acquired from Galehead Development, a greenfield development platform for wind, solar, and storage projects. The move positions RWE to expand into new Pacific Northwest markets and grow its existing footprint in New York. The recently completed acquisitions include two development-stage renewables projects located within PacifiCorp’s operating territory in the Pacific Northwest and a mid-stage development asset in northeastern New York.