Avangrid has reached a major construction milestone at its first solar energy project in California, completing the installation of approximately 105,000 solar modules at the Camino Solar Park in Kern County. This achievement marks a significant step forward for the company’s tenth utility-scale solar facility in the United States.
Power Generation and Economic Impact
With a planned capacity of 44 MWac (57 MWdc), the Camino Solar Park is engineered to produce sufficient clean energy to power an estimated 14,000 average U.S. homes. Beyond its renewable energy contributions, the project serves as a powerful economic engine for the local community. The construction phase is creating around 100 jobs, with the vast majority filled by local residents. Over its operational lifespan, the facility is projected to generate approximately $15 million in state and local tax revenue.
“This is great progress for our first solar energy project in California, and I am happy to see us move into the next construction phase,” stated Pedro Azagra, CEO of Avangrid. “Projects like this are important economic drivers in their local communities, bringing jobs and generating tax revenue that wouldn’t be there otherwise. Of course, Camino adds to our growing fleet of renewable energy projects that are key to fighting climate change and accelerating the energy transition.”
Project Details and Next Steps
Strategically located adjacent to Avangrid’s existing 189 MW Manzana wind farm, which began operations in 2012, the Camino project spans a combination of private land and over 200 acres of public land managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Although the physical installation of each solar module is complete, work continues on critical infrastructure such as collector systems and electrical wiring. The final commissioning activities are underway in preparation for connecting the park to the grid next year.
About Avangrid
A subsidiary of the Iberdrola group, Avangrid Inc. is a leading U.S. sustainable energy company with approximately $45 billion in assets and operations across 24 states. The company’s business is divided into Networks, which serves over 3.3 million utility customers in the Northeast, and Renewables, which operates a diverse portfolio of generation facilities nationwide. Employing around 8,000 people, Avangrid has been recognized for its corporate responsibility, earning a spot on JUST Capital’s JUST 100 list for four consecutive years and being named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute for the sixth year in a row in 2024.
Sources
- Construction at clean energy projects continue, including significant …
- Avangrid completes Camino Solar project in California – Inspenet
- Iberdrola installs modules of the ‘Camino Solar’ park in California
- Avangrid Begins Installing Modules at Camino Solar
- Avangrid Finishes Installing 105000 Solar Modules at California …
- Avangrid Begins Installing Modules at Camino Solar – Business Wire
- Avangrid completes installation of 105,000 solar modules for its first …
- Avangrid to build first solar PV project in California