Acciona completes Texas-sized solar project near Houston – pv USA magazine

May 22, 2024 Anna Fischer

Acciona Energía, a renewable energy company based in Spain, announced that the 458 MW Red-Tailed Hawk solar plant near Houston, Texas is now operational. The project is the company’s largest photovoltaic plant to date.

Acciona acquired the solar project in 2022 from Avondale Solar and Solar Plus Development. This is Acciona’s fifth investment in Texas, joining the Fort Bend solar farm and three operating wind farms in Cameron County.

Expected to generate clean energy equivalent to the use of 66,500 homes and prevent 430,000 tonnes of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere each year, Red-Tailed Hawk will create approximately 400 jobs during peak construction and maintain up to 15 permanent jobs.

The new facility features solar panels attached to solar trackers that track the sun’s path, maximizing exposure and sunlight production. It is expected to generate 742 GWh of clean electricity annually, equivalent to the consumption of approximately 66,500 Texas households. The generated solar energy will avoid emissions of approximately 430,000 tons of CO2 per year.

The project is part of Acciona Energía’s social impact management program, which allocates a portion of annual revenues to supporting local community initiatives in education, well-being and environmental stewardship.

Texas is the second solar state in the U.S. with nearly 23 GW installed, enough to power 2.7 million homes, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. SEIA says that with support policies that remove market barriers, Texas can expect to install more than 4 GW of solar capacity over the next five years. The Red-Tailed Hawk installation brings the state closer to this milestone.

Red-Tailed Hawk joins Acciona Energía’s existing portfolio of renewable energy projects in North America, which is currently estimated to be 2.7 GW installed. The company currently has a 325 MW solar plant under construction in Ohio. Globally, the company says it has 13.5 GW of renewable capacity.