WPD and Scout Clean Energy are joining forces to combine two onshore wind farms into one 850MW hybrid project development that also includes solar and energy storage in Washington State in the US.
The Horse Heaven project is located in Benton County and will be brought online in two phases.
Phase one is anticipated to begin operations no earlier than late-2022, while stage two is expected to begin operations no earlier than late-2023.
WPD sold project assets to Scout in 2019 including interconnection queue positions, land leases and wind data.
These assets were combined with those held by Scout to best position the hybrid wind-solar-storage project for market, WPD said.
With Scout as the project developer, the two companies are continuing to cooperate in the development of Horse Heaven with WPD as a long-term investor.
The partners said that by combining individual system components – wind, solar and storage – the aim is to stabilise grids, increase efficiency and enhance the profitability of the overall project and make it more attractive for upcoming power purchase agreement negotiations.
WPD Wind Projects board member Niclas Fritsch said: “In cooperation with Scout, we look to optimise and maximise the project for the community and the region.”
WPD Wind Projects managing director Jeffrey Wagner said: “By combining assets and advancing a hybrid project Horse Heaven can bring low cost, flexible, renewable resources to the local grid, and reach another milestone for clean energy supply in the region.”