Clearway Energy Group (“Clearway”) announced today that it signed a 20-year power purchase agreement and a 20-year energy storage agreement with the Public Utility District No. 2 of Grant County (“Grant PUD”) for the Royal Slope Energy Center, a 260 megawatt (MW) solar and 260 MW storage facility in Grant County, Washington.
“This partnership with Grant PUD reflects our shared vision to bring reliability and near-term power supply to regions experiencing significant load growth from data centers and industrial demand,” said Valerie Wooley, Senior Vice President of Origination at Clearway. “Royal Slope is a long-term investment in Washington’s energy independence and economic vitality.”
Grant PUD’s 2024 Integrated Resource Plan identified near-term energy and capacity needs to meet the utility’s reliability requirements and the State of Washington’s carbon goals. The power purchase and energy-storage agreements with the services provided by Clearway at its Royal Slope Energy Center will support Grant PUD in meeting its near-term targets for both solar and battery storage by 2028 and advances the utility closer to meeting its power-acquisition needs through 2030.
“We are excited to have this partnership with Clearway,” said John Mertlich, General Manager and CEO of Grant PUD. “The Royal Slope Energy Center, with its solar generation and storage capacity to match, will help provide for the increasing power demands of our customers and meet our evolving resource adequacy requirements.”
The Royal Slope Energy Center will generate enough electricity to power up to 87,000 homes. The project is sited on private, unincorporated land and will interconnect via the Vantage Substation, leveraging transmission infrastructure operated by Bonneville Power Administration.
The project is forecasted to generate an estimated $130 million in state and local taxes supporting first responders, education, and other public services. Over 325 union laborers will contribute to the project’s construction.
Royal Slope is expected to reach commercial operation by the end of 2027.
Clearway Energy Group’s vision is a world powered by clean energy. Along with our public affiliate Clearway Energy, Inc., our portfolio comprises over 13 GW of gross generating capacity in 27 states, including over 2.8 GW of flexible dispatchable power generation, 10.3 GW of battery energy storage, solar, and wind assets providing critical grid reliability services. As we develop a nationwide pipeline of new energy projects for the future, Clearway’s operating fleet generates enough reliable electricity to power more than 2 million homes today. Clearway Energy Group is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Denver, Houston, Phoenix, Princeton, and San Diego. For more information, visit https://www.clearwayenergygroup.com.