US telecoms and entertainment giant AT&T has inked two new virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs) with energy trader Vitol for 155MW of solar.
The two solar PV sites are the 80MW Bluegrass project in Queen Anne’s County, Maryland and the 75MW Swiftwater project in Monroe County, Pennsylvania.
Both are owned by affiliates of Vitol, and are expected to be fully operational in 2022 and 2023 respectively. Each will create up to 300 construction jobs.
The new deals with Vitol bring the company’s total portfolio to over 1.7GW of capacity, supporting AT&T’s commitment to net zero greenhouse gas emissions across its global operations by 2035.
Joe Taylor, vice president of global infrastructure optimisation and implementation at AT&T, said: “In addition to reducing our emissions footprint, deals like the ones with Vitol allow us to hedge against changes in energy costs and support economic development in communities we serve. It’s a win-win-win.”
AT&T has previously signed a PPA with Invenergy for 500MW of the 1,310MW Samson Solar Energy Centre in Texas, claiming this to be the largest US corporate solar energy deal at the time. Google and Honda are also offtakers for the project, which Invenergy claims will be the largest solar project in the US once it is operational from next year.
