September 28, 2015

Luminant Inks Deal With SunEdison To Bring More Solar Power To Texas Grid

More solar power will enter Texas’ power market next year to compete “apples to apples” with coal and gas power now that Dallas-based Luminant has signed the largest such deal in the country with SunEdison. Power generator Luminant will buy 116 megawatts — enough to power 58,000 homes during normal demand — from SunEdison’s new 800-acre Castle Gap facility in Upton County, just south of Midland. The complex will have 485,000 solar panels when it is completed next year.

 
The companies are touting the deal as the largest in the country in which solar power is being bought to compete in a competitive wholesale marketplace with all other power generation. “That is a first and that is a big deal,” said Julie Blunden, SunEdison chief strategy officer. “Solar is ready to compete head to head.”