The windswept plains of West Texas have some of the highest solar power potential in the United States. Now, the Permian Basin region is taking advantage of that energy in a big way.
As The Dallas Morning-News reports, the owner of the state’s biggest solar power plant, now has plans to construct the state’s biggest battery in Upton County. The Upton 2 Solar Power Plant hopes to help stabilize renewable energy, which producers have long struggled to find ways to store over long periods. The project will also likely reduce energy prices. Meanwhile the Texas panhandle has yet to fully embrace solar energy.
Wes Reeves, spokesman for XCel Energy, tells HPPR that the panhandle is “not seeing any large [solar] developments.” Reeves added that, “Up to this point, utility scale wind generation has been more economical to develop than solar.”