Bloomberg and Orsted have signed a US solar power purchase agreement for 80MW.
The output will come from the Mockingbird Solar Center, a 471MW project under construction near Paris, Texas.
This is Orsted’s largest solar project in the US, as well as the company’s first project to incorporate conservation efforts with the protection of native tallgrass prairie.
Bloomberg is one of four corporate customers buying power from the Mockingbird Solar Center, including Covestro and Royal DSM.
This agreement brings the Mockingbird project to a fully contracted status for its 471MW capacity.
In 2016, Bloomberg joined the RE100, a global corporate initiative comprised of businesses committed to sourcing 100 percent of their electricity from renewable energy.
According to Bloomberg, in 2022, the company secured 192,533 MWh of renewable energy from 11 projects, which represents 54.6% of Bloomberg’s global purchased electricity.
Bloomberg expects the additional renewable energy sourced from the Mockingbird Solar Center will cover 100% of its US electricity usage and 80% of global electricity usage.
“We look forward to partnering with Orsted on the purchase of renewable energy to progress our RE100 target while also meaningfully contributing to conservation efforts,” said Dave Wildman, Global Head Facilities, Sustainability Ops, MEP Infrastructure at Bloomberg.
One of the unique features of the Mockingbird Solar Center is the agreement between Ørsted and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to preserve nearly 1000 acres of rare, native tallgrass prairie adjacent to the project.
Orsted has purchased over half of the Smiley-Woodfin National Prairie Grassland and will donate the land to The Nature Conservancy once the project reaches operation.
Mockingbird Solar Center has created 500 jobs during peak construction and is estimated to inject $215m into the local economy over the life of the project.
This project builds on Orsted’s existing footprint in Texas, which includes 12 wind, solar, and storage projects in operation or under construction across the state, a more than $3bn investment in the Lone Star State.