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Renewable energy developer SB Energy announced last week that its massive solar energy project in Buckholts, Texas, has reached the complete operational stage and is ready to sell electricity to customers.
The project, collectively named the Orion Solar Belt, consists of three solar farms in Milam County, about a two-hour drive from Dallas.
The Orion Solar Belt can deliver around 900 MWdc of electricity. To get a feel for that level, consider that the Texas project can produce the equivalent of 15 percent of the installed US solar capacity generated in 2013.
Building a Big Solar Farm
The massive SB Energy solar project used over 1.3 million American-made solar modules, steel manufactured in the US, and other major components manufactured in the US. SB Energy said the Inflation Reduction Act encouraged the move, which promotes domestic clean energy production and offers related incentives for using domestic materials.
US-headquartered First Solar manufactured solar modules at its Perrysburg, Ohio, plant.
The Orion Solar Belt project used more than 22,000 tons of structural steel from building product manufacturer Gerdau steel in Midlothian, Texas, and Cartersville, Georgia.
An estimated 3,000 US workers were employed on the project, from manufacturing to construction. SB Energy selected renewable energy contractor Blattner Energy for construction, procurement, and engineering. The project benefitted the local Texas economy by adding around $100 million during its lifetime.
Google Goes Big on Solar
SB Energy said its agreement with Google, its anchor customer, to purchase the power from the project “represents Google’s largest solar energy investment in the world.” Around 85% of the electricity produced at Orion will go to Google and help power its data centers in neighboring Ellis County and cloud operations in the Dallas area.
Panoramic view of the solar farm, Orian Solar Belt, in Buckholts, Texas. The project, developed by SB Energy, is shown in an undated photo. Image: SB Energy
More Data, More Data Centers, More Energy
The International Energy Agency report Electricity 2024 anticipates rising demand for electric power, stating that “consumption from data centers, artificial intelligence (AI) and the cryptocurrency sector could double by 2026. Data centers are significant drivers of growth in electricity demand in many regions.”
Chief Economist at ConstructConnect, Michael Guckes, reported in August that the steady flow of energy projects and data center megaprojects (those over $1 billion in cost) influenced the volume of construction starts in their respective regions.
The data appetite of modern technologies is accelerating demand for and construction opportunities in data centers, Economist Sebastian Tillet wrote last month. “Given the strategic importance of this sector and pressure from companies with the largest stock caps in the US, it is unlikely that growth will be stunted in the short term, and longer-term opportunities beckon,” Tillet wrote. Tillet is an economist at Oxford Economics and a ConstructConnect partner. [Read the full article here Rising Demand Fuels Surge in US Data Center Construction]
The International Energy Agency report added, “Updated regulations and technological improvements, including on efficiency, will be crucial to moderate the surge in energy consumption from data centers.”
Google announced in August that it will invest another $1 billion in Texas construction projects to enhance data center infrastructure.
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