How SunZia Procured US$20bn for Renewables Infrastructure

Pattern Energy has brought SunZia online, marking the completion of the largest renewable energy infrastructure procurement in US history. The facility combines an approximately 3.65GW wind farm with a 550-mile high voltage direct current transmission line across New Mexico and Arizona.

According to Pattern Energy, the project represents an investment of more than US$20bn in New Mexico and Arizona communities. The scale of the procurement extends beyond hardware acquisition to include agreements with local governments, schools, counties and private landowners.

The facility is designed to deliver more power than the Hoover Dam. At full capacity, SunZia is expected to supply enough electricity to power around one million American homes annually.

Construction began in September 2023, though planning and procurement processes began more than 18 years earlier.

The extended timeline reflects the complexity of securing environmental permits, negotiating right-of-way agreements across hundreds of private properties and coordinating approvals from multiple federal and state agencies.

Pattern Energy's procurement team faced particular challenges in securing permits for transmission infrastructure that crossed federal Bureau of Land Management territory, state trust lands and private ranches. Each jurisdiction required separate environmental impact assessments and stakeholder consultation processes.

Procuring long-term transmission infrastructure

The procurement strategy for SunZia centred on securing high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission technology. This system can transmit large volumes of electricity efficiently over long distances using converter stations at each end of the line.

The HVDC system is one of the first major installations of this technology built in the US in a generation. Securing suppliers and securing permits for the 550-mile transmission line took more than a decade.

The procurement process for HVDC technology required Pattern Energy to evaluate suppliers with proven track records in ultra-high-voltage systems. The technology selection process prioritised suppliers capable of delivering converter stations rated for 3,000 megawatts of capacity whilst maintaining transmission efficiency above 95% across the full distance.

"Large-scale transmission is essential to meeting the West's growing energy needs and strengthening reliability across the grid," says Elliot Mainzer, President and CEO of the California Independent System Operator.

"Projects of this scale help deliver energy reliably to areas of rising demand, improve the movement of power across states and support a more resilient, flexible and affordable electric system.

"SunZia represents the kind of long-term infrastructure investment needed to serve customers today and prepare the grid for the future."

Supply chain and workforce procurement

Vestas supplied the wind energy hardware for the project. According to Laura Beane, President for Vestas North America, the procurement required the supplier to expand its manufacturing capacity.

"For Vestas, this is our largest onshore wind project in North America but the number that stays with me isn't just the gigawatts. It's the people," says Beane. "Nearly 90% of the workforce we hired for this project are local to New Mexico to ensure SunZia was and continues to be a success."

According to Beane, Vestas Colorado factories grew from a few hundred employees to over 1,000 to meet delivery timelines. "These are careers, not just jobs, built by Americans, for Americans," she says.

At peak construction the project supported more than 2,000 jobs. Pattern Energy says the facility will sustain more than 100 permanent operations roles.

The turbine procurement alone involved coordination of thousands of individual components. Vestas manufactured nacelles, blades and towers across multiple facilities before transporting them to remote installation sites across New Mexico's high desert terrain.

Procurement of local agreements

Pattern Energy structured the procurement to include US$1.3bn in direct payments to local governments, schools, counties and private landowners over the first 30 years of operation. These agreements formed part of the broader infrastructure procurement strategy.

The economic impact extends beyond direct payments. Pattern Energy estimates the project will generate approximately US$3bn in total economic activity across the two states during its operational lifetime. This includes ongoing maintenance contracts, local supply chain spending and property tax contributions that fund schools and emergency services.

"SunZia is supporting local jobs, strengthening the local tax base and creating long-term investment that can help support schools, public services, landowners and families across the region," says Barbara Sultemeier, Board Member for the Corona Landowner's Association through the Lincoln County Community Foundation.

Hunter Armistead, CEO of Pattern Energy, says the procurement followed community-focused principles. "We did this the right way, we did it on time and on budget – in genuine partnership with the local communities and landowners who trusted us, with the environmental stewardship this unique landscape deserves, and with the determination to see something through that many thought was too big and too complex to finish."

Martin Heinrich, US Senator for New Mexico, says the project took 18 years to secure. "SunZia becoming fully operational is a milestone more than 18 years in the making and one that I've been fighting for since I first came to Congress," says Heinrich.

Procurement challenges in US renewables

The timeline from procurement planning to operational completion underlines the challenges of securing permits for large interregional transmission lines in the US. Eighteen years from conception to completion could indicate the complexity of multi-state infrastructure procurement.

The opening of SunZia comes as the US Government works to curtail domestic wind projects. Since US President Donald Trump's second term in the White House began in January 2025, he has issued executive orders to prevent further wind projects and offered billion-dollar payouts to operators to cease construction of wind farms.

Pattern Energy now operates more than 40 facilities across North America with nearly 12,000MW of operating and in construction capacity. Armistead says the company intends to continue similar procurement processes for future projects.

"This project sets a new standard for what is possible – and we intend to keep building on it," he says. For an industry facing surging data centre demand and an ageing grid, SunZia offers an example of what large-scale transmission procurement can achieve.