SAN ANGELO, TX — Global engineering and construction firm Bechtel has been selected by Doral Renewables to design and build the Cold Creek Solar + Storage project, a large-scale renewable energy facility spanning Tom Green and Schleicher counties.
The project will generate approximately 430 megawatts of power using more than 850,000 solar modules, supported by a 340 megawatt-hour battery energy storage system designed to capture excess energy produced during daylight hours and feed it to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid when demand peaks.
Bechtel said the Cold Creek project underscores the strength of Texas’s “all-of-the-above” energy strategy, integrating both traditional and renewable resources to enhance grid reliability.
“Texas continues to lead the nation in blending traditional and renewable resources to strengthen its grid,” said Scott Austin, Bechtel’s General Manager of Renewables & Clean Power. “By combining 430 MW of solar generation with 340 MWh of storage, Cold Creek will make the Texas grid stronger and more reliable for years to come.”
Bechtel will provide engineering, procurement, and construction services for both the solar array and battery storage systems. Once complete, the facility will supply power directly to ERCOT’s statewide network. Engineering is already underway, with commercial operations expected to begin in 2028.
This marks Bechtel’s second project with Doral Renewables and its fifth utility-scale solar facility in Texas.
The project comes amid a slowdown in renewable energy and battery installations in Texas. According to the Institute for Energy Research, developers have canceled more than 9 gigawatts of projects this year — including 4 GW of battery storage, 3.5 GW of solar farms, and nearly 2 GW of natural gas facilities — as policy uncertainty and shifting market conditions create headwinds for clean-energy developers.
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