National Grid Renewables has started construction on its Copperhead Solar & Storage Project, a 150 MW solar and 100 MWh storage project in Falls County, Texas.
National Grid Renewables has also announced a 140 MW power purchase agreement (PPA) with The Hershey Co. for Copperhead, marking the second PPA between Hershey and National Grid Renewables after Hershey’s Noble solar PPA was announced in 2021.
Edison Energy, a global sustainability and energy advisory firm, worked with Hershey on its environmental initiatives and selection of National Grid Renewables’ Copperhead.
“Together with customers like The Hershey Co., National Grid Renewables is helping to build a clean, fair and affordable energy future,” states Blake Nixon, president of National Grid Renewables. “Projects like Copperhead promote sustainability and economic vitality at both global and local levels. Communities like those in the Falls County, Texas area can anticipate economic benefits for years to come as a result of welcoming renewable energy projects. With Copperhead, our commitment to the state of Texas and the ERCOT market remains strong, and we look forward to bringing this project to commercial operation to benefit local and statewide residents.”
“We have ambitious goals to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by more than 50 percent and Scope 3 emissions by 25 percent by 2030 as part of our science-based targets,” says Mark Kline, director of commodities and specialty procurement at The Hershey Co. “We’re making great progress toward achieving those goals thanks to projects like Copperhead and the great work of National Grid Renewables.”
Copperhead will utilize next-generation Series 6 thin-film solar modules developed and produced by First Solar Inc. and a 100 MWh Fluence Gridstack battery energy storage system by Fluence Energy Inc. The project is being constructed by TIC–The Industrial Co., a subsidiary of Kiewit and an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor.
