January 14th, 2021 by Zachary Shahan
ENGIE has more power capacity installed globally than any other country. In recent years, it has made a strong shift to renewable energy.
“Since 2015, we have been firmly committed to aligning ourselves with the Paris Agreement*. We are drastically reducing emissions related to our industrial activities, and we have recently obtained SBT* certification for our new objectives for 2030, a key step toward the Group’s carbon neutrality. Finally, in a formulation adopted by the General Shareholders’ Meeting in 2020, the Group’s purpose reconciles economic performance with a positive impact on people and the planet.”
In North America, almost 100% of its installed power capacity comes from renewable energy or other low-carbon power (i.e., nuclear). The latest news from ENGIE North America is that it installed nearly 2 gigawatts (GW) of new renewable energy capacity in the US in 2020. That was part of its commitment, which was accomplished, to add 9 GW of renewable energy capacity around the world from 2019 to 2021.
“These new clean energy capacities will offset nearly 2.1 million metric tons of carbon and bring ENGIE’s renewables capacity to more than 3 GW in North America – enough to power 1.3 million homes,” the company states.
A total of 8 renewable energy power plants contributed to the 2020 additions in the United States — 6 wind power projects totaling 1.4 GW and 2 utility-scale solar power projects totaling 0.4 GW, or 400 megawatts (MW). Those 8 projects were located in just 4 states: Texas, Kansas, South Dakota, and Oklahoma. “These projects contributed more than 3,000 construction jobs across 8 counties and 100 well-paying jobs in rural communities throughout the heartland in the United States.”
But this is small fries compared to what ENGIE North America is working on right now. It is in the process of constructing another 10 GW of renewable energy projects in North America.
“Globally in 2020, ENGIE commissioned 3 GW of new renewable capacity, bringing its total portfolio to 31 GW of gross renewable energy capacity – consisting of hydroelectric (~57%) as well as wind and solar (~43%). Renewables account for 30% of ENGIE’s gross power generation capacity worldwide (101 GW).”
Here are more details on the US projects completed in 2020:
Wind Projects:
- East Fork, 196 MW, Thomas County, Kansas
- Las Lomas, 202 MW, Starr and Zapata Counties, Texas
- Jumbo Hill, 161 MW, Andrews County, Texas
- Triple H, 250 MW, Hyde County, South Dakota
- King Plains, 248 MW, Garfield & Noble Counties, Oklahoma
- Prairie Hill, 300 MW, Limestone and McLennan Counties, Texas
Solar Projects:
- Anson, 200 MW, Jones County, Texas
- Long Draw, 225 MW, Borden County, Texas
Image courtesy of ENGIE.
The largest of those projects, the 300 MW Prairie Hill wind farm, was completed in December. One week before Christmas, ENGIE wrote, “After more than 400,000 hours of work, construction is now complete on the Prairie Hill wind farm, ENGIE North America’s largest renewables project of 2020. The 100-turbine wind farm generates enough energy at peak production to power the equivalent of 60,000 homes, and adds 300 MW of power towards our goal of adding 2 GW in the US.”
Also in December, ENGIE announced a massive portfolio of agreements with Amazon. Across Italy, France, and the USA, the projects total 650 MW — all renewable energy projects, of course. Even for ENGIE, this was “the largest portfolio of agreements signed at once with a single counterparty.” Here are some overarching figures on these specific projects:
“In the United States, Amazon’s new renewable energy solar and wind projects with ENGIE represent 569 MW in Delaware, Kansas, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia. They will supply Amazon with approximately 1,850 GWh of power and with the associated project renewable energy credits (REC’s) annually. During construction, ENGIE will create approximately 300 jobs at each wind facility and 210 jobs at each solar facility. Projects are expected to reach commercial operation in 2021 through 2022.
“In Europe, Amazon’s total contracts with ENGIE add up to 66 MW in Italy and 15 MW in France, and are the company’s first utility-scale renewable energy projects in each country. Amazon will purchase renewable energy from two solar facilities located in Southern Italy and another in Southern France to power its European operations.”
“These new projects with ENGIE represent our first utility-scale renewable energy projects in Italy and France in Europe and our first projects in Delaware and Kansas in the United States. They substantially help us on our path to powering our operations with 100 percent renewable energy by 2030,” said Nat Sahlstrom, Director, Amazon Energy. “Working with ENGIE, we are able to add 650 MW of new power to grids in the US and Europe. Our push for more renewable energy is one step toward our goal of reaching net-zero carbon by 2040 as part of Amazon’s commitment to The Climate Pledge.”
We will happily track the progress Amazon makes as it plans and completes more renewable energy projects. And we will continue to cover ENGIE’s rapid renewable energy growth and shift to becoming a renewable energy leader.
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About the Author
Zachary Shahan is tryin’ to help society help itself one word at a time. He spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as its director, chief editor, and CEO. Zach is recognized globally as an electric vehicle, solar energy, and energy storage expert. He has presented about cleantech at conferences in India, the UAE, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, Canada, and Curaçao.
Zach has long-term investments in NIO [NIO], Tesla [TSLA], and Xpeng [XPEV]. But he does not offer (explicitly or implicitly) investment advice of any sort.