TotalEnergies Starts Commercial Operations of Texas Solar+Storage Projects

TotalEnergies has commenced commercial operations of Danish Fields and Cottonwood, two utility-scale solar farms with integrated battery storage located in southeast Texas. 

These new projects, with a combined capacity of 1.2 GW, are part of the company’s portfolio of renewable assets totaling 4 GW in operation or under construction in Texas.

Danish Fields is TotalEnergies’ largest solar farm in the U.S., with a 720 MW capacity and 1.4 million ground-mounted photovoltaic panels. The project also comprises a 225 MWh battery energy storage system supplied by Saft, the battery subsidiary of TotalEnergies.

Seventy percent of Danish’s solar capacity has been contracted through long-term corporate power purchase agreements, featuring an upside sharing mechanism indexed on merchant price.

The remaining 30% is set to support the decarbonization of TotalEnergies’ industrial plants in the U.S. Gulf Coast region. Along with Myrtle Solar, which was commissioned last year, and the under-construction Hill 1 solar farm, these three projects are expected to cover the electricity consumption of TotalEnergies’ industrial sites in Port Arthur and La Porte in Texas and Carville in Louisiana.

Cottonwood has a capacity of 455 MW and features 847,000 ground-mounted photovoltaic panels. The site is also expected to feature a 225 MWh of battery storage supplied by Saft, scheduled for commissioning next year. Cottonwood’s electricity production is contracted under long-term PPAs indexed to merchant prices through an upside-sharing mechanism with LyondellBasell and Saint-Gobain, to support their decarbonization efforts.

“The start-ups of Danish Fields and Cottonwood in the fast-growing ERCOT market showcase TotalEnergies’ ability to deliver competitive renewable electricity to support our clients’ decarbonization goals, as well as our own,” says Olivier Jouny, senior vice president, renewables, at TotalEnergies.