Vistra Energy has announced that the 180MW Upton 2 Solar Power Plant in West Texas has achieved commercial operation. The solar installation stands as Texas’ largest operating PV facility.
Vistra’s power generating subsidiary, Luminant, will serve as the plant's owner and is also its qualified scheduling entity with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).
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Vistra Energy originally purchased the solar project back in May 2017, when the site was under development.
Curt Morgan, Vistra’s president and chief executive officer, said: “When we announced the project a year ago, we did so knowing that Upton 2 was the perfect fit for Vistra's integrated business model. Through this project, we're enabling our Texas retail brand, TXU Energy, to enhance its retail solar offerings, and we're diversifying Luminant's generation fleet, as well. This project makes strategic sense for us as a business, and we're excited that it is officially powering Texas in time for the 2018 summer.”
The Upton 2 project sits on nearly 769 hectares of land and is comprised of 718,000 PV panels. With its generation capacity, the installation has enough energy to power approximately 56,700 average residences in the market during normal weather conditions — and 27,700 during periods of peak demand.
