France-based energy giant TotalEnergies has started commercial operations at two utility-scale solar projects in the US state of Texas, with a combined capacity of 1.2GW and co-located battery energy storage systems (BESS).
The projects are the 720MW Danish Fields project, which is TotalEnergies’ largest solar farm in the US, and the 455MW Cottonwood project. Both projects feature a 225MWh BESS, provided by TotalEnergies subsidy Saft, with the Danish Fields BESS currently in operation and the Cottonwood battery set for commissioning in 2025.
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TotalEnergies has also signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) to sell power generated at both projects. At Danish Fields, 70% of the project’s output will be sold to what TotalEnergies called “industry players”, including construction materials manufacturer Saint-Gobain, while the remainder will be used to decarbonise TotalEnergies’ industrial facilities in Texas and Louisana. Meanwhile, the PPAs signed at the Cottonwood project, also with Saint-Gobain, are indexed with merchant prices to “support their decarbonisation efforts”.
“The start-ups of Danish Fields and Cottonwood in the fast-growing Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) market showcase TotalEnergies’ ability to deliver competitive renewable electricity to support our clients’ decarbonisation goals, as well as our own,” said Olivier Jouny, senior vice president of renewables at TotalEnergies.
While ERCOT does not account for the entirety of the Texas energy grid—representing around 90% of the state’s customers—its dominance of the Texas power sector means its policies are often aligned with those of the state.
The US Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), for instance, expects Texas to add over 50GW of new solar power generation capacity in the next five years, the most in the US, while Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) figures suggest ERCOT’s demand for solar power alone could reach 118GW by the end of the decade. Earlier this month, Arava Power began commercial operations at a 270MW solar project in the state, as the Texas solar sector continues to grow.
TotalEnergies now has a portfolio of 4GW of solar projects in operation or under construction in Texas, as it looks to expand its US portfolio to 10GW of operating capacity by the end of next year. This will account for just under one-third of the company’s planned global renewable power capacity of 35GW in 2025, alongside a 1GW solar portfolio in India, which the company announced earlier this month.
