Cubico acquires two giant solar installations in Arkansas and Mississipi
The projects will each be among the largest installations in their respective states and advance Cubico’s expansion into the American solar market.
Cubico Sustainable Investments has added 270 MW of solar to the company’s U.S. generation portfolio, after acquiring two projects from RES.
The two installations in question are the Delta’s Edge solar project and the Crossett solar project, located in Mississippi and Arkansas, respectively. Both projects are still under development and are expected to reach financial close in the first quarter of 2021, with commercial operations starting in 2022.
the projects are also both reportedly 100 MW in capacity, meaning that Cubico is either reporting their DC capacity and that they’re truly a bit larger than 100 MW, or that Cubico plans on expanding one or both of the projects.
Regional relevance
Regardless of which capacity Cubico is reporting, the projects are massive, especially considering their area. The Crossett solar project will be among the largest installations in Arkansas, competing with the 180 MW installation being built for General Motors in the state, as well as a 132 MW installation, recently approved for development in White County.
As for Delta’s Edge, that project will be the largest in Mississippi when it is completed and will provide a huge boom to the state’s overall installed solar capacity. The state is currently home to roughly 320 MW of solar capacity, with nearly half of that capacity being taken up by three installations, the 52 MW Sumrall I solar farm, its 52 MW twin, Sumrall II and the 50 MW Hattiesburg solar farm.
The state also has another major capacity addition to look forward to in the near future, as the state recently approved two 78.5 MW projects for development: the Moonshot Solar project in Hancock County and the Cane Creek Solar project in Clarke County.
Cubico means business
The news of these acquisitions comes just over a week after Cubico announced that the company has achieved commercial operations on the 162MW Wagyu solar farm in Brazoria County near Houston, Texas. That project was developed by Cypress Creek Renewables, with the company also providing ongoing operations, maintenance and asset management. The energy generated by Wagyu will be bought by Starbucks under a 15-year corporate power purchase agreement.
To date, Cubico has built or acquired nearly 600 MW of solar in the United States, with Cubico Americas head, Ricardo Diaz, sharing that the acquisitions of the Delta’s Edge and Crossett projects support the company’s continued expansion into the American market.
