Hanwha Q Cells Usa Brings 170 Mw of Solar Power to City of Austin, Texas

Hanwha Q CELLS USA (“Hanwha”) today announced the signing of a 25-year power purchase agreement (“PPA”) between Hanwha and Austin Energy (“Austin”), an electric utility serving more than 1 million residents in the Greater Austin area.

 Hanwha is developing this 170 MW utility-scale solar power plant with the close collaboration of local landowners on privately held land in Pecos County, Texas.

“We’re very pleased to be partnering with Hanwha to bring more clean solar energy to our customers,” said Larry Weis, General Manager of Austin Energy. “This action moves us closer to the City of Austin’s goal of 55 percent renewable energy production by 2025.”

The site is in the vicinity of several other large solar farms in development given the abundant solar resource in the area and the general local community acceptance. With robust wind generation currently in operation and installed along the mesas surrounding Pecos County, the solar resource is complementary to the wind resource that blows mainly at night. The new solar project is part of ERCOT's nearly 10,000 MW that have filed for interconnection.

“We’re very excited by the opportunity to work with Austin Energy and support their goal of adding significant solar energy to their generation portfolio,” said Laurence Greene, Chief Development Officer of Hanwha Q CELLS USA. “The solar facility will be a state-of-the-art generation resource using high-performing and efficient technology that will transform the underutilized site into an environmentally sustainable source of power to the local community.”

Hanwha plans to complete the development, design, and construction of the solar project in an expedited fashion.