The 368 MW portfolio includes the following project in the Construction News area. Scheduled to come online in 2024, EPC contractor LPL Solar is constructing the 180 MW Prairie Ronde Solar in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, with a long-term power purchase agreement with McDonald’s Corporation.
“By leveraging domestic content incentives offered in the Inflation Reduction Act, the ... Prairie Ronde solar project provides exciting examples of the IRA’s benefits in real action," said Kevin Smith, CEO of the Americas, Lightsource bp. "With the right policies, we can boost made-in-America products, create jobs, and reduce our nation’s foreign dependence.”
Nearly 800,000 solar panels manufactured by Arizona-based First Solar will be installed across both projects, along with smart solar trackers from New Mexico-based Array Technologies.
In addition to economic benefits, the Prairie Ronde solar project will help address two of the most pressing environmental crises facing our planet today: climate change and biodiversity loss. The primary purpose of solar is to reduce carbon emissions from electricity generation, and at a competitive price. Collectively, the projects will abate more than 235,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year, the equivalent of taking about 85,000 fuel-burning cars off the road, contributing to healthier air quality.
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Additionally, Lightsource bp works to increase biodiversity under and around the solar panels at our projects, as part of the company's Responsible Solar ethos. At Prairie Ronde, Lightsource bp is making plans to restore coastal prairie habitat and provide nesting grounds for Eastern Bluebirds. Construction of the Prairie Ronde solar farm is underway, with a focus on recruiting from the local labor pools.
