General

OPPD, Google join forces with NextEra on solar and battery project

OPPD and Google are joining forces on a solar and battery energy project to generate renewable, sustainable energy starting in 2027.  

The Pierce County Energy Center in northeast Nebraska will serve both OPPD customers and Google with a 420-megawatt solar array and a 170-megawatt, four-hour-duration battery storage system.  

The project will support Google’s goal to run on carbon-free energy 24 hours a day, seven days a week by 2030.  

It also aligns with OPPD’s efforts to diversify generation sources to meet surging new demand for electricity. OPPD expects to see 100 megawatts of electrical load growth each year for the next 5-6 years as new customers, homes, businesses and other users establish service. Just a few years ago, OPPD’s load growth was a much more modest 4 megawatts per year.  

The project will move forward pending the results of a Southwest Power Pool Generator Interconnection Agreement, which is necessary to connect to the larger regional grid, and the ability to obtain firm network transmission service.  

“This collaboration is a big step forward in our continuing work to add 3,200 megawatts of power by the end of the decade, with most of the energy coming from renewable energy sources,” said OPPD President and CEO Javier Fernandez. “Pierce County Energy Center supports our commitment to a diverse generation portfolio, which is critical to reliability. If for any reason, one type of generation is unavailable, we have other sources to pull from. That flexibility in our generation fleet is incredibly important.”  

A special partnership  

At the center of the project is a transaction between OPPD and Google designed to benefit both organizations.  

The center will be owned and operated by a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources LLC, a wholesale electricity supplier and the world’s largest operator of wind and solar projects.  

OPPD is acquiring the capacity of the project and a portion of the energy to meet system needs.  

“This agreement enables OPPD to move toward our near-term generation goals,” said Brad Underwood, vice president of Systems Transformation.  

Economic benefits  

Once it goes online, the Pierce County Energy Center will produce an estimated $5.7 million in business activity, sustain nine jobs and generate more than $2 million in local tax revenue annually, according to a July report by the University of Nebraska’ Bureau of Business Research. The report predicted an economic impact of $316.4 million, including 542 jobs, during construction.  

“The economic impact of developing a solar and battery storage facility occurs in two separate phases,” UNL economics professor Eric Thompson wrote in the report. “First, there is a temporary impact in the development phase, during the years when the solar facility is built and battery storage is installed. Second, there are annual impacts from the operations of the facility.”  

The facility will occupy 2,230 acres of land in rural Pierce County and has already received local approvals and landowner agreements.  

OPPD has added several other renewable sources to its portfolio recently, including Platteview Solar, the utility’s first utility-scale solar project and the largest of its kind so far in Nebraska. On Tuesday, OPPD announced a power purchase agreement with EDF renewables to access 300 megawatts from the Milligan I Wind Project in Saline County.