‘Amazing’ giant $350M solar farm reshapes landscape near Abbott, north of Waco

Engie North America on Wednesday dedicated the Sun Valley Solar and Battery Storage Project, a $350 million energy complex unlike anything in the history of rural Hill County, population 36,500 people.

The solar farm went online in December with 640,000 panels, capable of producing 250 megawatts of renewable energy for the Texas power grid, enough to power 50,000 homes during peak power use times. Engie will soon complete a 100 MW battery system to store some of that power for when it is most needed.

The project includes inverters and a giant substation to deliver power to north-south transmission lines that run through the area. Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble agreed in a “virtual power purchase agreement” to pay for the electricity to meet its long-term goals to go carbon-free by 2040. But actual users of the power will be everyone in the statewide grid run by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.

Texas this year is expected to lead the nation in new solar capacity with a record 7.7 gigawatts of new generation capacity, while also leading the nation by adding 2 GW of new wind generation capacity, according to a U.S. Energy Information Administration report from last month. Nationwide, plans have been announced to add 9.4 GW of battery storage, more than doubling the existing 8.8 GW, according to the report.