French energy company TotalEnergies has initiated commercial operations for its 380MWp solar-plus-storage venture, named Myrtle Solar, situated in Texas, United States. This project, located to the south of Houston, is accompanied by a 225MWh energy storage system supplied by TotalEnergies’ affiliate, Saft, and features a colossal array of 705,000 solar panels.
The majority of the energy generated, about 70%, will be channeled to supply TotalEnergies’ own industrial facilities in the US Gulf Coast region. The remaining 30% will be under a 15-year corporate power purchase agreement (cPPA) tied to merchant prices with Kilroy Realty, a prominent real estate company.
Texas is garnering increasing attention in the energy sector, with substantial growth expected in both solar development and energy grid enhancement. TotalEnergies is furthering its presence in the state by developing a 720MW solar farm, recently securing a power purchase agreement (PPA) with French building materials manufacturer Saint-Gobin for 100MW of the project’s capacity.
This project benefits from the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) tax credit incentives, which TotalEnergies has leveraged for its development. Present in over 30 US states, TotalEnergies maintains a robust portfolio of 25GW in operational and development-stage solar, wind, and storage projects throughout the United States. Vincent Stoquart, Senior Vice President of Renewables at TotalEnergies, highlighted the significance of the Myrtle Solar project in expanding the company’s position in Texas and underlined the role of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) as a primary grid operator in the region.
