Origis Energy commissions 200MW New Mexico PV plant with Tri-state PPA

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
The escalante solar project in New Mexico
Escalante Solar plant near Grants, New Mexico. Image: Origis Energy

US renewables developer Origis Energy has commissioned the 200MW Escalante solar project in New Mexico alongside non-for-profit electricity utility Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association.

The project was built on the site of the now-decommissioned 253MW Escalante Station coal-fired power plant. Tri-State has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Origis Energy for the Escalante project’s output which will see it provide power to its customers and 11 electric cooperative members in New Mexico.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

US tracker producer Array Technologies provided the project’s trackers, and Gridworks handled construction. Both companies are headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The Escalante site will likely deploy solar modules from US-based cadmium telluride thin-film solar manufacturer First Solar following the signature of a 750MW supply deal in 2022 due to extend through 2024. The two companies expanded their supply deal in 2023 with a further 2GW for delivery in 2026-27.

Construction for the project began in August 2023, whereupon the PPA with Tri-State was also signed.  

“Escalante Solar helps all our members get to 50% clean energy used in 2025, while meeting the requirements of New Mexico’s Energy Transition Act five years ahead of schedule,” said Duane Highley, CEO of Tri-State.

Based in Colorado, Tri-State provides electricity to 41 utilities across the rural western US in Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Nebraska. In 2020, the company inked a deal to develop 400MW of Colorado solar PV capacity with German developer Juwi.

Last month, Origis secured a US$300 million corporate financing investment from KKR to build out its US solar PV and energy storage pipeline. At the time of the investment, the company had roughly 13GW of assets in its development pipeline.

The following week, Origis commissioned a 150MW solar-plus-storage project in Mississippi. The Golden Triangle II site is part of a three-project fleet alongside Golden Triangle I and the Optimist project, each with 200MW of solar PV generation and 50MW of energy storage capacity. This site has a PPA in place with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) utility.  

7 October 2025
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
PV Tech has been running an annual PV CellTech Conference since 2016. PV CellTech USA, on 7-8 October 2025 is our third PV CellTech conference dedicated to the U.S. manufacturing sector. The events in 2023 and 2024 were a sell out success and 2025 will once again gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing in the U.S. out to 2030 and beyond.
21 October 2025
New York, USA
Returning for its 12th edition, Solar and Storage Finance USA Summit remains the annual event where decision-makers at the forefront of solar and storage projects across the United States and capital converge. Featuring the most active solar and storage transactors, join us for a packed two-days of deal-making, learning and networking.
16 June 2026
Napa, USA
PV Tech has been running PV ModuleTech Conferences since 2017. PV ModuleTech USA, on 16-17 June 2026, will be our fifth PV ModulelTech conference dedicated to the U.S. utility scale solar sector. The event will gather the key stakeholders from solar developers, solar asset owners and investors, PV manufacturing, policy-making and and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out the PV module supply channels to the U.S. out to 2027 and beyond.

Read Next

June 30, 2025
Heliene has completed the sale of Section 45X Advanced Manufacturing Production Tax Credits in association with Minnesota-based U.S. Bank.
June 30, 2025
Voting on the US tax reconciliation bill is expected to begin in the Senate today, following a draft published on Friday that hit clean energy tax credits hard.
June 30, 2025
US clean energy developer Clearway Energy Group has received corporate credit facilities over US$1 billion.
June 30, 2025
Australian module manufacturer Tindo Solar has secured a 30MW solar module supply agreement to power Australia's first "net zero pipeline”.
June 27, 2025
Renewables investment platform Nexwell Power has signed a round of power purchase agreements (PPAs) with “one of the largest” US tech companies for solar PV capacity to be built in Spain.
June 27, 2025
Statkraft has signed PPAs with Better Energy to purchase energy from two solar power plants in Poland with a total capacity of 64GWh.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Upcoming Webinars
June 30, 2025
10am PST / 6pm BST
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Media Partners, Solar Media Events
July 2, 2025
Bangkok, Thailand
Media Partners, Solar Media Events
September 2, 2025
Mexico City, Mexico