In Texas, Solar Proponent (SolarPro) has a development pipeline of over 6 GW solar + storage through 2024. In order to connect its massive utility-scale solar project to the ERCOT grid, the company needed to contribute to funding upgrades.
The company announced it reached a $10 million interconnection agreement to connect the 345 KV portion of its Lunis Creek Solar project. The project, due for operations between 2023-24, is planned to reach capacities of 765 MW AC, with storage capacity to be announced.
This interconnection secured 480 MW along the South Texas Project – Angstrom transmission line, with the company having further plans to connect 600 MW AC to the line. The facility is also planned to be connected with a smaller adjacent 138 KV solar project.
As storms this February caused massive outages in the state, there is increasing pressure for bolstering the grid, adding extreme weather resilience, and integrating energy storage.
In March, a Colorado-based grid analysis firm Vibrant Clean Energy released a whitepaper that modeled the impact of energy storage on reliability. It found that in a “high renewables” attachment rate to the grid, about 40,000 MW of storage would have met all February blackout requirements in the state “with room to spare.”
Also planned for 2023-24 operation in Texas is the Clear Fork Creek solar project, a 650 MW AC facility with storage capacity to be determined. In total, SolarPro estimates its current projects can power about 230,000 homes per year, reduce emissions equivalent to 300,000 cars, and sequester carbon equivalent to planting 25 million trees.
SolarPro is backed by a $1.2 billion growth capital fund from EnCap Energy Transition, and has investors from Yorktown Partners and Mercuria Energy.
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