TotalEnergies has commissioned its largest operational solar power and storage plant in the US with 380 MW installed capacity, 70% of which will power its industrial sites in the Gulf Coast region. The Myrtle Solar Power Plant with 225 MWh of co-located batteries is stationed in Houston, Texas.
The 114 high-tech battery containers have been supplied by TotalEnergies subsidiary Saft.
The French energy giant says this program is part of its Go Green project under which by 2025 it aims to meet its electricity needs and reduce type 1+2 emissions from its industrial sites in Port Arthur and La Porte in Texas and Carville, Louisiana.
Equipped with 705,000 solar panels, the project is contracted under a 15-year corporate power purchase agreement (PPA) with real estate company Kilroy Realty to supply the remaining 30% of the electricity generated. The contract will follow market prices.
The Myrtle project is eligible for tax credit mechanisms under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The French company says this will contribute to its Integrated Power Sector business achieving the 12% profitability target.
TotalEnergies' Director of Renewables, Vincent Stoquart said, "Given the benefits generated by the IRA tax exemptions, we will continue to actively develop our 25 GW portfolio of projects in operation or development in the United States, to contribute to the Company's overall objective of increasing its electricity production to more than 100 TWh by 2030."
The project was originally developed by SunChase Power and Eolian. In February 2021, SunChase Power and MAP RE/IS sold 2.2 GW utility-scale solar power development pipeline with 600 MW battery storage assets to TotalEnergies (see Total Digs Deeper In US Solar Space With 2.2 GW Acquisition).
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