E ON : plans major solar project in Texas

E.ON is moving into new orders of magnitude in the construction of solar parks on an industrial scale: In Texas, USA, the energy company is planning a solar park with a capacity of 100 megawatts (MW). Under long-term power purchase agreement, E.ON has already sold the subscription rights from 50 MW of the plant for a period of 20 years. The customer is SK E&S, one of South Korea's largest energy companies.

The project, called West of the Pecos, is located in Reeves County, Texas, and will consist of 350,000 photovoltaic modules and be built on an area of 670 acres, comparable to 550 football pitches. West of the Pecos is scheduled to go online in 2020. E.ON expects about 700 jobs to be created during the construction period.

'West of the Pecos is our first solar project in Texas,' says Silvia Ortin, member of E.ON Climate & Renewables' Board of Management responsible for North America. 'Our 20-year agreement with SK E&S confirms our competence to implement clean and reliable energy projects across all technologies.'

E.ON has developed and built more than 3,600 MW of solar and wind energy projects and battery storage facilities in the United States, and others are in preparation.