Texas solar draws hefty investment
A Canadian investment firm said Monday it will commit $100 million to back a Texas solar developer and buy solar projects in San Antonio and Austin, another sign that solar power is continuing to expand in the state.
The moves by Fengate Real Asset Investments, which recently opened an office in Houston, came as the trade group Solar Energy Industries Association reported that Texas added 41 megawatts of solar capacity — enough to power more than 8,000 homes on a hot summer day — in the first three months of the year, an increase of about 2 percent from the end of 2017. Nationally, solar power grew by about 2,500 megawatts in the first quarter, up 13 percent yearover-year.
Texas, which has about 2,000 megawatts of solar-generating capacity, ranks seventh in the nation, far behind No. 1 California, which has nearly 21,000 megawatts of solar. Solar energy in Texas also lags far behind
wind power in the state. Texas leads the nation in wind energy, with more than 22,000 megawatts installed.
Fengate will acquire the San Antonio and Austin solar projects of PowerFin Partners, which has offices in both cities, and enter a co-development partnership with PowerFin, using the $100 million to develop the company’s pipeline of solar projects.
Fengate spokeswoman Amy Holmes said the purchase marked the first U.S. solar investment for the firm. Fengate also owns a minority stake in a wind farm in New Mexico.
Greg Calhoun, the director of U.S. infrastructure for Fengate, called PowerFin a “proven partner.” Officials of the companies would not disclose the number of projects PowerFin is developing or how large they are, but Calhoun said they would total “more than dozens of megawatts.”
PowerFin has developed a 6-megawatt solar host program for San Antonio’s city-owned utility, CPS Energy. The program allows customers to have solar installed on their roof at no cost and receive a credit on their bill of 3 cents per kilowatt-hour. The energy produced by the solar installation is then purchased by CPS Energy.
In Austin, PowerFin developed a 3-megawatt community solar farm to sell power to customers who may rent or can’t afford a solar installation on their houses. PowerFin has also developed at least four solar farms in California.
Fengate has invested in at least four solar projects in Canada and the United Kingdom since 2014, according to the company’s website.