7X was the original owner and developer of the project and it will transition the last stages of the project’s development to Duke Energy. The North Carolina-based electricity company will manage construction and will operate the project. It will also buy the electricity from the project on long-term basis.
The Lapetus solar project will be located on 800-acres site. Construction is expected to begin before the end of March. This is claimed to be the first large scale solar project in Andrews County. During the construction phase, the solar facility is expected to generate nearly 150 jobs and more than $20m in local property tax revenue, once it begins operations, which is due by the end of this year.
Once the solar plant begins operations, electricity from the plant will be sold in SolarBlocksTM under a power purchase agreement (PPA) negotiated by 7X and Duke Energy Renewables. Electricity will be delivered to ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas). Brazos Electric Power Cooperative will purchase the energy on behalf of CoServ Electric and seven other distribution cooperative members.
7X Energy president and CEO Clay Butler said: “The sale of Lapetus is another milestone for 7X and advances our mission to rapidly deploy solar through innovation and agility to meet customer needs. We are committed to bringing high-quality, reliable solar projects to operation and look forward to working with Duke Energy on Lapetus through construction and successful commercial operations.”
Duke Energy Renewables and Distributed Energy Technology president Rob Caldwell said: “Our focus is generating cleaner energy for the state of Texas and this solar project will do just that. We are pleased to partner with these communities in Texas to build and own facilities that offer customers additional options to use solar energy.”
CohnReznick Capital acted as the financial advisor for 7X Energy on the sale.
Last month, Duke Energy company began operation of its 74.9MW Hamilton Solar Power Plant in Jasper, Florida. It is expected to generate enough clean electricity to be supplied to 20,000 homes. The solar plant, as per the company, is part of its commitment to install or acquire 700MW of solar energy in the state through 2022.
