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Released May 31, 2024 | SUGAR LAND
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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--In past years, Wyoming has ranked toward the bottom of the list for installed solar capacity in a U.S. state and only recently surpassed 100 megawatts (MW) of commercial solar generation last month with the completion of a second utility-scale solar plant. But that is set to change in a big way as Wyoming's Industrial Siting Council this week gave the green light to a massive solar project being developed by pipeline operator Enbridge Incorporated (NYSE:ENB) (Calgary, Alberta), which is aiming for net-zero emissions by 2050.

The Industrial Siting Council's approval of the Cowboy Solar Farm, located about four miles south of Cheyenne, gives the state potential future access to 771 MW of solar power from a single facility. The solar farm also will include 269 MW of battery energy storage for times when the sun isn't shining.

The facility will be constructed in two phases, both of which are expected to begin construction in March 2025. Phase I will account for 400 MW of solar generation and 136 MW of battery storage, and Phase II will add 371 MW of solar generation and 133 MW of battery energy storage. The first phase is expected to come online January 2027, followed by Phase II that August. Enbridge estimates that the project will reach peak construction shortly after the work begins, when an estimated 375 workers will be needed. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can learn more by viewing by the related project reports.

The plant joins another solar farm commissioned in 1998 and a 150-MW solar facility that only began commercial operation in late April. Southern Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE:SO) (Atlanta, Georgia), began work on the South Cheyenne solar farm late last year, making rapid progress on the project. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the project report and May 1, 2024, article - Southern Power Solar Facility in Wyoming Goes Live, PPA in Place.

What Wyoming lacks in solar capacity, it makes up for in wind, consistently ranking in the top 15 states for wind generation, a ranking which is set to grow with the completion of what may be the largest wind installation in the U.S. The huge Sierra Madre and Chokecherry windfarms presently under construction are adjacent to one another and are often discussed as a single project. Each windfarm will include 500 turbines rated at 3 megawatts (MW) each, to provide 1,500 MW of power output per facility and a combined 3,000 MW. Contractor M.A. Mortenson Company (Minneapolis, Minnesota) began construction on the windfarms in 2022 and is expected to complete the project in 2027. A 2023 profile of Wyoming by the U.S. Energy Information Administration says that the state produces almost 12 times more energy than it consumes, making it the second-largest net energy supplier after Texas. The power from the windfarms will be delivered to Nevada and Southern California. Construction of the transmission line associated with the project that will help deliver the power to Southern California broke ground last summer. The two windfarm projects have a combined value of more than $5 billion. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the project reports on the Sierra Madre and Chokecherry windfarms.

The Cowboy project will be Enbridge's largest solar installation, edging out another of the company's solar facilities under construction in Texas. The Cadillac solar farm in Callahan County, Texas, also is being built in two phases with the Cadillac-inspired monickers Eldorado (Phase I) and Deville (Phase II). Phase I will add 406 MW of solar generation and is expected to come online in early 2026; Phase II will provide an additional 350 MW and is expected to begin commercial operations a few months later. Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can learn more by viewing the related project reports.

While the Cadillac and Cowboy projects constitute Enbridge's largest U.S. solar projects, the company is in the early planning stage for a few other renewable-energy facilities, such as the planned Plummer solar farm near Plummer, Minnesota, which will have a solar generation capacity of 130 MW and be backed up by a 100-MW battery energy storage system (BESS). The solar portion of the project could kick off next year, putting it on track for completion in 2027. Construction on the BESS unit is expected to begin shortly after the solar farm's completion, putting it on track to be finished in late 2028. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the reports on the solar farm and BESS projects.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Database can click here to view reports for all of the projects discussed in this article and click here for the related plant profiles.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).

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