Ørsted has made a final investment decision on the Old 300 Solar Center, which is located in Fort Bend County, 40 miles from Houston, Texas, and is scheduled to be come online in Q2 2022.

With the addition of Old 300, Ørsted has substantially expanded its solar portfolio and now has 1.1 GW of solar PV under construction, resulting in a total capacity of 3.4 GW in operation and under construction through onshore wind, solar PV and storage.

Old 300 is located close to Houston and benefits from a long-term PPA.

“We’re excited to add another large-scale, attractively contracted solar project to our portfolio. Solar is the fastest-growing power generation technology in the world and will continue to play a key role in our growth going forward.”

Vishal Kapadia, chief commercial officer for Onshore.

The project would provide a stable source of income for family ranches that lease their land for the project. In addition, the construction project will create up to 400 jobs at its peak and the long-term operation of the Old 300 Solar will raise more than $40 million in property tax revenue for Fort Bend County and the Needville Independent School District.

Old 300 Solar Center will cover an area of 2,800 acres and utilise approximately 1 million bifacial modules, supplied by JA Solar and LONGi Solar. Inverters will be supplied by SMA America.