Invenergy announces a 1.3GW solar center, the largest in the U.S.

Invenergy has begun constructing a five-phase solar center with a 1.3-gigawatt (GW) capacity in three Texas counties. The Samson Solar Energy Center will come into operations in 2022 and 2023 and is expected to be the largest solar project in the U.S.

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Invenergy: Samson Solar Energy Center

Last Wednesday, Invenergy, a sustainable energy global developer and provider, announced it would start constructing its Samson Solar Energy Center, spanned in three Texas counties.

The expected total capacity of the future center is 1.3GW. According to the company, this project will have a greater capacity than the 690-megawatt (MW) Gemini project, currently the largest planned solar project in the U.S.

Samson will support the sustainability goals of @ATT, @Honda, @McDonalds, @Google, and @HomeDepot, and supply clean power to Bryan, Denton and Garland, Texas. Read the full release: https://t.co/V9X1xDgAMr #sustainability #solar (2/2) pic.twitter.com/krsd4fkHZj

— Invenergy (@InvenergyLLC) November 18, 2020

Invenergy said the center would start operations in 2022 and 2023. Since the project will be divided over numerous neighboring territories in Texas, the company secured offtake agreements with several cities and corporations, Invenergy spokespeople said GTM.

While the center will be concentrated in West Texas, the company will also start to construct its first Northeast Texas project, near the Oklahoma border. The project would create about 600 jobs during the construction phase and yield more than $250 million in revenue for private landowners, the company added.  

Commercial and Industrial Users

The Samson Solar Energy Center will provide power to telecommunications giant AT&T, the automaker Honda, McDonald’s, the tech-giant Google, Home Depot, and the cities of Bryan, Denton, and Garland in Texas.

According to GTM’s information, the most significant portion of the center’s power output (500MW of capacity) will go to AT&T. Honda signed a power-purchase agreement with Invenergy for the company to provide 200MW. McDonald’s will also offtake 160MW, and Home Depot will purchase under 100MW from the company.

We're moving closer to our carbon neutral future.

Today, @ATT is proud to announce the largest U.S. corporate solar energy deal to date, with a purchase of 500 megawatts of clean, solar electricity from @InvenergyLLC. Click here for details: https://t.co/jo9dde8wET pic.twitter.com/0NohMCRHSr

— AT&T News (@ATTNEWS) November 18, 2020

By increasing our use of renewable energy, we’re working toward a carbon-free future. Our VPPA with Samson Solar Energy Center in Texas will generate 482,000 MWh/year of power that will reduce CO2 emissions from our U.S. auto #mfg operations. https://t.co/g5vLSdsGaA pic.twitter.com/BqUPNbPQDb

— Team Honda Cares (@TeamHondaCares) November 18, 2020

The Chicago-based company is a leading renewables developer in the U.S., with over 3.5GW already developed in solar and wind assets across the country and Mexico.

The company’s interest in solar assets is recent since it has been more focused on wind developments. However, Invenergy now ranks in the top 10 solar developments list in the U.S, GTM added.