West of the Pecos Solar sells 50 of its 100 MW

Share

E.ON has signed a 50 MW power purchase agreement (PPA) with a local subsidiary of SK E&S, one of the largest energy companies in South Korea. The PPA makes use of half of the output from a soon to be completed ‘West of the Pecos’ plant located in Reeves County, just west of Midland-Odessa. The total output of the project is 100 MW-AC.

West of the Pecos is expected to come online in 2020 and will consist of more than 350,000 photovoltaic panels. E.ON expects approximately 700 jobs will be created during the construction of the project.

Per the documentation filed with the Texas Comptroller, the system will be located on approximately 800 acres. The agreement for this land is part of a ‘larger, long-term lease agreement with a local landowner’.

The panels will be mounted on a single-axis tracker system. The project will include a high voltage transmission line connecting this project to the grid (third image right, above).

The project comprises approximately 350,000 pv modules.

E.ON suggests that two full time jobs will be created by this project, paying $72,000/year total. During construction, there will be 120 jobs in the first year, and 122 jobs in the second year, with the two years combined generating just over $8.5 million in direct wages.

Tax documents suggest the project will cost $90 million to install.

Driven by enormous summer power needs, ample sun and transmission lines already constructed for wind projects, solar is booming in West and North Texas to feed power demand in cities in Central and Eastern Texas. In 2017 Texas became the fourth-largest state market in the United States, and SEIA has predicted that it will become the second-largest by 2020.

This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.