San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
LEADING THE CHARGE Cover:
CPS Energy’s push into solar power helping Texas become an emerging leader.
In southern Bexar County, an array of solar panels spans nearly a mile, nestled amid green pastures and South Texas homesteads.
The solar farm holds tens of thousands of solar panels that feed into CPS Energy’s power system, providing nearly 40 megawatts of carbon-free electricity to 9,100 homes in San Antonio.
Eight years ago, when the city-owned utility worked out a deal with a solar firm to build seven solar farms, there were few seas of electric black panels in the Texas countryside. Now, they dot the state’s rural landscape, proliferating almost as quickly as wind turbines have over the past two decades.
Government subsidies and major advancements in solar panel technology this decade have propelled the industry. Solar power production has increased exponentially as utilities such as CPS Energy look to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels for power generation.
Through August, power producers in Texas have generated more than 5,900 gigawatt hours of energy from solar arrays this year. By comparison, solar panels produced just 420 gigawatt hours of power in 2015, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, which operates the Texas power grid.
Fossil fuels are still the primary fuel used in electricity generation in Texas. Last year, 67 percent of electricity generated in the state came from natural gas and coal. Wind made up 20 percent, while just 2 percent of electricity statewide was generated from solar.
Even so, the transition away from fossil fuels and toward renewables is just beginning.
ERCOT expects solar capacity in Texas to to nearly triple by the end of 2020, compared with last year. Figures from the organization show the state is expected to reach 6,035 megawatts of solar capacity, up from 2,281megawatts in 2019.
A decade ago, solar energy producers could generate no more than 15 megawatts of power.
CPS has been steadily incorporating solar power into its energy generation mix, which also includes wind, nuclear, coal and natural gas. The original Alamo 1 farm in South Bexar County was completed in 2013 after the utility signed a power purchase agreement with OCI Solar Power, a subsidiary company of a Korean energy conglomerate.
OCI agreed to produce and sell 400 megawatts of solar power to CPS.
“We were one of the first in solar in a big, big way in Texas. Our 400 megawatt (request for proposals) around 2012 was really a landmark at the time,” said Cris Eugster, chief operating officer at CPS Energy. “Solar is a great resource here in Texas. It produces power during those July and August afternoons when our customers need it and when our load is at its highest. Solar is very well-aligned and correlated to our load.”
CPS is looking to build on its initial effort to increase its use of solar power.
To gradually replace energy generated by CPS’ coal- and natural gas-fired power plants, the utility has developed its “FlexPower Bundle” strategy over the last year.
As part of the plan, CPS has gathered proposals to incorporate more renewable energy without causing ratepayers’ bills to spike. The utility announced it was looking for ways to add another 900 megawatts of solar power, 50 megawatts of battery storage capacity and 500 megawatts of power from other sources.
“We’re doing a different approach than traditional resource planning,” Eugster said. “Ten years ago, it was all about putting that next big power plant in place when load grows into that. We’ve taken a different approach. We want it to be renewable, and we want solar to be the centerpiece.
“The magnitude and size and scope of this — this is not just another 50 megawatt or 100 megawatt solar project that we’re going to do out there for a showcase or a press release.