Ørsted has announced the completion of the Helena Energy Center, a 518 MW combined wind and solar project located in Bee County, South Texas. According to the company, the center is now fully operational.
The Helena Energy Center comprises a 268 MWac wind farm called Helena Wind and a 250 MWac solar farm, Sparta Solar. The project has secured contracts with multiple corporate offtakers.
“Helena Energy Center is unique in that it’s Ørsted’s first co-located wind and solar project and the largest renewable energy project in our global onshore portfolio,” noted David Hardy, executive vice president and CEO of Region Americas at Ørsted.
Near Pawnee, Texas, Helena Wind utilizes 66 Vestas turbines spread across about 15,000 acres. Sparta Solar features approximately 600,000 photovoltaic bifacial panels.
Ørsted says Bee County is suited for this project because of its strong coastal winds during the afternoon and in the summer, coupled with ample solar exposure during the day.
“Taking advantage of the Gulf of Mexico’s strong coastal winds and abundant sunshine, this project will offer reliable energy to Texas’ grid and economic opportunity for the local community,” added Hardy. “In reaching full operations, Helena Energy Center brings Ørsted’s global operating onshore portfolio to 4.8 GW. We look forward to building on that momentum as more onshore projects come online in the US this year.”
“This project should come as welcome news to all Texans as it provides significant clean power to our state at a time when all eyes are on grid reliability,” said Texas Senator Morgan LaMantia, who represents Bee County. “I’m especially proud that the Bee County community will also benefit from workforce opportunities, public school support, and funding for rural areas like ours.”
Ørsted has an additional 1.3 GW of onshore renewable assets under construction. The company believes about 1.1 GW will become operational this calendar year.
Last month, Ørsted announced an investment from J.P. Morgan for $680 million in tax equity financing for a portfolio of solar and storage assets in Texas and Arizona including the Sparta Solar project. The deal is one of the largest solar and storage tax equity transactions using a combined production tax credit (PTC) and investment tax credit (ITC) structure since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in August 2022.
