RWE Renewables Brings 100 MW Solar Project Online in Texas

RWE Renewables has announced that it has achieved commercial operation on its 100 MW West of the Pecos solar project, located in Texas

RWE Renewables has announced that it has achieved commercial operation on its West of the Pecos solar project, located in Reeves County, Texas, approximately 75 miles southwest of Midland-Odessa. The project is a 100 megawatt (MW) solar plant located on more than 700 acres leased from Texas Pacific Land Trust and Texas General Land Office within the county.

“The completion of a project this size is a major milestone for us and adds tremendous value to our overall portfolio of generating assets”, said Silvia Ortin, COO Onshore Wind and Solar PV Americas, RWE Renewables. “We’re excited to develop our first solar project in Texas, our largest solar project in the US and continue our growth in renewable generation benefiting local communities across the U.S.”

The project utilises nearly 350,000 solar modules on a surface of 550 football pitches. It marks RWE’s first solar project in the state and is the latest expansion of a growing US footprint. In May 2018, the project secured a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) for 50 MW with SK E&S LNG, a subsidiary of SK E&S Co., Ltd., one of the largest energy companies in South Korea.

Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath, CEO RWE Renewables said “the completion of our largest solar project in the U.S. is another good example of RWE’s continued success in the US market and our effort to diversify our portfolio across technologies. With a development pipeline of more than 10 GW our strategy for renewables in the US is geared for growth. A very big thank you to all involved employees and partners, who made an excellent job in the smooth execution of this project. West of the Pecos underscores our commitment to being the partner of choice for the transition to a lower-carbon future.” 

RWE has also successfully closed on tax equity financing for the West of the Pecos project. A tax equity investor has agreed to provide tax equity financing in exchange for a partial interest in the project.

Bringing this project online shows the firm’s strong growth ambition in the renewables business. As one of the largest players worldwide RWE will provide an annual EUR 1.5 billion in net capital expenditure for renewables. Project partnerships have the potential to increase total investment to between EUR 2 and EUR 3 billion per annum.