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Houston renewables developer powers 4 new solar parks for Amazon, Microsoft

EDP Renewables North America LLC has announced four new solar projects in Texas, Mississippi and Illinois for major tech customers. Photo via Getty Images

Houston-based EDP Renewables North America LLC announced that it has powered up four new projects across the country for customers Amazon and Microsoft.

The new projects come about a month after EDP Renewables powered up its new California solar park for Houston-based Shell Energy North America and the Eureka, California-based Redwood Coast Energy Authority.

EDP Renewables announced that it also launched the 100-megawatt Ragsdale Solar Park in Madison Country, Mississippi, in Q4 2024. Amazon has contracted for all 100 megawatts from the solar park through a 15-year power agreement.

The Ragsdale project is the company's second utility-scale project in Mississippi after EDP Renewables launched its Pearl River Solar Park last year.

“Ragsdale signifies EDP Renewables’ ongoing commitment to Mississippi, its communities, and local businesses. The opportunity to develop utility-scale solar and contract directly with customers like Amazon, who are also committed to expanding their own presence in Mississippi, has been invaluable," Sandhya Ganapathy, CEO of EDP Renewables North America, said in a statement. "We are proud to aid the state’s commercial and industrial growth with homegrown energy solutions."

Additionally, EDP Renewables has powered three new projects for tech-giant Microsoft, with two in Illinois and one in Texas.

In December EDP Renewables powered a 150-megawatt Cattlemen II Solar Project in Milam County, Texas, about 70 miles northeast of the Austin area. It joins the 240-megawatt Cattlemen I Solar Park, which came online a year prior.

The company also launched the 140-megawatt Wolf Run Solar Project near Jacksonville, Illinois, and the Hickory Solar Project in Jerseyville, Illinois, late last year. The Hickory project was developed in conjunction with D.C.-based Volt Energy Utility.

Microsoft has agreed to purchase 389 megawatts and renewable energy credits from the projects, which brings the portfolio between the two companies up to five projects in total. It also includes the Timber Road IV Wind Farm located in Payne, Ohio.

"The importance of ensuring benefits flowing from renewable energy development directly into communities has never been more important,” Ganapathy added in a statement. “Through these three additional projects, we’re keeping our promise – and indeed the industry’s promise – to contribute to the nation’s growing energy demand and in that process invest in long-lasting economic growth of our communities.”

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A View From HETI

Chart Industries reported $4.3 billion in revenue for fiscal year 2025. Photo courtesy Baker Hughes

Houston-based energy technology company Baker Hughes has completed its $13.6 billion acquisition of Chart Industries, a provider of equipment and services for liquefying gases like LNG, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen.

Baker Hughes says the deal advances its “strategic vision” to be a leader in energy and industrial technology.

Jim Apostolides, who had previously served as chief infrastructure and performance officer at Baker Hughes, leads the Chart business in his new role as senior vice president. Chart President and CEO Jill Evanko left the company in January to become CEO of Duravant, which makes equipment for food processing, packaging and materials handling.

Publicly traded Chart reported $4.3 billion in revenue for fiscal year 2025. Its customers operate in sectors such as gas infrastructure, nuclear, data centers, carbon capture and storage, space, and geothermal energy.

“Chart’s thermal management solutions bring complementary capabilities and aftermarket service offerings that accelerate our portfolio strategy,” Lorenzo Simonelli, chairman and CEO of Baker Hughes, said in a news release. “Together, we will expand the solutions we deliver across a broader range of energy and industrial markets and create greater value for customers and shareholders.”

Chart will operate as a new financial reporting segment within Baker Hughes, reflecting what Baker Hughes says is the “scale and strategic importance of its differentiated capabilities in air and gas handling, thermal management, and lifecycle services.”

Baker Hughes announced the Chart deal last July.

“We know Chart well, having worked alongside them on many critical energy infrastructure projects,” Signorelli said last year. “Their products and services are highly complementary to our offerings and strongly aligned with our intent to deliver distinctive and efficient end-to-end lifecycle solutions for our customers across their most critical applications.”

Chart’s website lists offices in Houston, The Woodlands, and Austin, with corporate headquarters in Ball Ground, Georgia. It’s unclear what will happen to those offices.

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