Xcel Energy’ solar projects in Texas-New Mexico
Xcel Energy plans to build three new solar generating facilities in Texas-New Mexico.
Image for illustration purposes.
USA, New Mexico: Xcel Energy plans to build three new solar generating facilities in Texas-New Mexico.
The solar facilities will be built near existing power plants in its Texas-New Mexico service area, at Cunningham Generating Station near Hobbs, New Mexico, and Plant X Generating Station near Earth, Texas. These sites offer the advantage of utilizing existing grid connections and supporting local communities and workforce.
In addition to the solar facilities, Xcel Energy is exploring the installation of battery resources to store energy generated by other power plants, in order to store excess energy for future use.
The combined capacity of the two solar plants near Hobbs will be 268 MW, while the Plant X facility near Earth will have a capacity of 150 MW, providing clean energy to approximately 140,000 homes on average.
The new solar plants are projected to be operational by 2026 and 2027.
With nearly 40 % of the region’s electricity already sourced from renewables, predominantly wind energy, Xcel Energy’s customers saved approximately $700 M in generating costs since 2019. The addition of solar generating capacity is expected to generate further savings while advancing the company’s goal of reducing carbon emissions by 80 % by 2030.
Source: T&D World