Canadian Solar subsidiary Recurrent Energy has signed a 40-MWp/28-MWac solar power purchase agreement (PPA) with Energy Transfer, a Fortune 100 midstream oil and gas pipeline distribution company based in Dallas, Texas.

Energy Transfer will purchase the emissions-free electricity from Recurrent's Maplewood 2 project for a period of 15 years. It's Energy Transfer's first dedicated solar power contract, according to a news release.

Solar and wind resources will supply more than 20 percent of the electrical energy Energy Transfer uses to power its operations as a result of the Maplewood 2 PPA with Recurrent, highlighted David Coker, vice president of Power Optimization at Energy Transfer.

Good economic sense

“The PPA made economic sense for us," Coker said. "We are always focused on operating our facilities safely and efficiently, and while we mainly rely on electrical energy powered by natural gas, we do use a diversified mix of energy sources when it makes economic sense to do so."

The announcement comes on the heels of Recurrent announcing it signed a 15-year PPA with Anheuser-Busch for 310 MWp-222 MWac of solar power from Recurrent's Maplewood project in Pecos County. The Maplewood solar power farm will power the equivalent of 55,000 homes, according to the company.

The brewing giant's Maplewood solar PPA with Recurrent is the seventh largest commercial and industrial power purchase agreement for solar energy worldwide, according to Recurrent. Its signing also means Anheuser-Busch will realize its 2025 U.S. Renewable Electricity Goal four years ahead of schedule.

Recurrent is looking for equity partners for both the Maplewood and Maplewood 2 projects, both of which are slated to come online in 2021.

Canadian Solar chief commercial officer and acting CEO Yan Zhuang pointed out that corporations are increasingly purchasing solar energy for a variety of reasons, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions and minimizing the negative environmental impacts of their operations, but cost is always a key consideration.

Corporate solar power purchases on the rise

A total of 121 corporations in 21 countries bought 13.4 GW of clean power via long-term contracts in 2018, more than double 2017's 6.1 GW total, according to Bloomberg NEF. More than 60 percent were signed by corporations in the U.S..

ExxonMobil became the first major oil & gas multinational to sign a clean energy PPA to power its own operations last year. The company signed a long-term contract to purchase 575 MW of solar and wind power in Texas, according to Bloomberg BNEF's 1H 2019 Corporate Energy Market Outlook.

Smaller corporations are joining to aggregate their purchasing power and signing solar PPAs, helping fuel market growth. Thirty-four U.S. companies signed their first solar PPAs in 2018, accounting for 31% of the annual total.

The trend is spreading internationally, as well. Corporations in Poland recently signed their first corporate clean power contracts, Bloomberg NEF highlights.

"Insiders of the renewable energy industry know well that solar PPAs often help corporations lock in low-cost electricity prices to power their operations," Canadian Solar's Zhuang said. "However, it is rewarding in 2019 to also see valued partners from the traditional energy sector like Energy Transfer view a purchase of electricity from high quality Canadian Solar assets like the Maplewood 2 project as the financially sensible decision."

Canadian Solar is doing a lot of business in Texas, particularly in West Texas oil and gas country. "Looking at publicly announced deals, we are proud to be the leading solar developer in the Texas market, with over 1.3 gigawatts of signed electricity contract for energy generated within ERCOT's service territory," said company chairman Shawn Qu.