The state of Texas is steadily growing its solar power initiatives. While the state of California remains the number one producer of solar power in the US, Texas is a close second: In 2022, it had 17,247MW of cumulative installed capacity. In this article, we present the three currently largest solar farms in Texas, as of late June 2023.
1) 1.3GW Samson Solar Energy Center by US firm
Chicago-based developer Invenergy is currently developing the 1310MW Samson Solar Energy Center. It will be the largest PV solar plant in the whole United States when completed. The 1.6 billion dollar project is located in Franklin, Lamar and Red River Counties and being constructed in five phases. The full project is scheduled to reach its operational state in 2023.
Location: Lamar, Red River and Franklin Counties (northeast Texas)
Developer: Invenergy
2) 497MW Roadrunner photovoltaic plant by Italian developer
Located in Upton County, the 497MW Roadrunner photovoltaic plant is currently the largest operational solar power plant in the state of Texas. The large park is developed and owned by Rome-based company Enel Green Power North America. Construction started in March 2019 and was done in 2 phases. The first phase comprising 252MW became operational in December 2019 and the second phase comprising another 245MW of capacity began operations in September 2020.
Location: Upton County (western Texas)
Developer: Enel Green Power North America
3) 460MW Permian Energy Center by Danish company
The Permian Energy Center is the second largest operational solar park in Texas. It is one of six solar projects by Danish developer Ørsted. Its 1.3 million solar panels span over 3,600 acres and the farm produces 460MW of energy. One MW generally powers around 200 homes a day, meaning this large solar farm can cover electricity of around 92,000 households.
Location: Permian Basin (northwestern Texas)
Developer: Ørsted
Image: American Public Power Association via Unsplash (29.06.2023)
