Enel North America has begun construction of the Ables Springs solar + storage project in Kaufman County, Texas. The project pairs a 186 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) system with a 115 MW / 169 MWh battery energy storage system.
“When ERCOT conditions tightened this winter, Enel’s solar and storage plants provided crucial generation and quick-response batteries that helped keep the lights and heat on,” said Stephen Pike, head of Enel North America’s renewable energy business, Enel Green Power North America.
Enel is the largest operator of utility-scale energy storage in Texas — a state increasingly turning to batteries to maintain grid reliability amid extreme weather and rising power demand. Ables Springs is Enel’s 17th renewables project in the state, where it has installed 3.8 GW of wind and solar capacity plus more than 1 GW of grid-scale storage. Enel’s new project is located in the same county as the Lily solar + storage plant, the company’s first facility to integrate utility-scale renewables and storage, which began operations in 2021.
Ables Springs is expected to generate 320 GWh of clean energy each year, enough to meet the needs of over 30,000 households. Over its lifetime, the project is expected to generate around $60 million in tax revenue for schools and public services. Sustainability principles will be integrated throughout the project, both at the site—through resource efficiency measures and innovative tools—and in the community, where Enel will contribute additional funding to emergency responders and STEM education programs. Ables Springs is expected to come online in late 2024.
Enel is actively building a renewables workforce pipeline in Texas. The company partners with Texas State Technical College to support scholarships for students pursuing vocational training in wind, solar and battery technician programs. At Ables Springs, the company expects to create around 200 construction jobs and several permanent, full-time operations jobs.
Ables Springs was developed by Enel and Red River Renewable Energy LLC, a joint venture between SunChase Power LLC and Eolian LP. With nearly 25 years operating in the U.S. renewables market, Enel North America is one of the largest clean energy companies in the country. The company manages a development pipeline of over 32 GW.
— Solar Builder magazine
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