Invenergy Announces 1.3GW Series of Solar Projects in Texas
Invenergy has begun construction on a five-phase, 1,310-megawatt solar center spanning three Texas counties, the energy developer and operator said on Wednesday.
The company has already secured offtake agreements with several cities and large corporations for its Samson Solar Energy Center, with phases set to come online in 2022 and 2023. Though the solar will be divided over numerous neighboring sites, its total capacity is significantly greater than the 690-megawatt Gemini project, which currently holds the title for the largest solar project planned in the U.S.
In recent years, Texas has become an epicenter for utility-scale solar development. While solar accounts for only about 2 percent of generating capacity in the territory of system operator ERCOT, it outranks all other categories in ERCOT’s interconnection queue. In an April report, ERCOT forecast that its installed solar capacity of about 2.3 gigawatts could double this year.
While much of the solar development in the state has concentrated in West Texas, Invenergy will construct its first Texas solar project in the northeast part of the state, near the Oklahoma border. It’s expected to yield more than $250 million for private landowners and create about 600 jobs during construction.
The greatest portion of Samson’s power output will go to telecommunications giant AT&T, which has signed a power-purchase agreement for 500 megawatts of capacity — a record purchase for the United States in the commercial and industrial domain. Honda is the next largest offtaker with 200 megawatts. McDonald’s will offtake 160 megawatts, the city of Bryan, Texas snapped up 150 megawatts, and Google contracted for 100 megawatts. Home Depot and the cities of Denton and Garland also each contracted for slices of under 100 megawatts. Invenergy declined to provide details on the contract prices.
