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Houston-based Calpine Corp. to be acquired in clean energy megadeal

big deal

Houston's Calpine Corp. will be acquired by Baltimore-based nuclear power company Constellation Energy Corp. Photo via DOE

Baltimore-based nuclear power company Constellation Energy Corp. and Houston-based Calpine Corp. have entered into an agreement where Constellation will acquire Calpine in a cash and stock transaction with an overall net purchase price of $26.6 billion.

The companies say the agreement has the potential to create America’s “largest clean energy provider,” with what is reported to be the largest fleet of U.S. power stations servicing about 2.5 million customers.

“This is an incredible opportunity to bring together top tier generation fleets, leading retail customer businesses and the best people in our industry to help drive a stronger American economy for a cleaner, healthier and more sustainable future,” Andrew Novotny, president and CEO of Calpine, said in a news release.

Calpine is the largest U.S. producer of energy from low-emission natural gas generation and oversees the largest geothermal generation operation in the U.S. Last year it announced plans to build the Baytown Carbon Capture and Storage Project (Baytown CCS Project), a first-of-its-kind carbon capture demonstration facility, as part of a cost-sharing agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy.

Constellation is considered the top clean energy producer in the U.S., which provides 10 percent of the country’s emissions-free energy. The deal will add to Constellation’s already diverse portfolio of zero- and low-emission sources, including nuclear, natural gas, geothermal, hydro, wind, solar, cogeneration and battery storage.

“Both companies have been at the forefront of America’s transition to cleaner, more reliable and secure energy, and those shared values will guide us as we pursue investments in new and existing clean technologies to meet rising demand,” Joe Dominguez, president and CEO of Constellation, said the release. “What makes this combination even more special is it brings together two world-class teams, with the most talented women and men in the industry, who share a noble passion for safety, sustainability, operational excellence and helping America’s families, businesses and communities thrive and grow. We look forward to welcoming the Calpine team upon closing of this transaction.”

Constellation also announced that it will invest in adding more zero-emission energy to the grid to create “the most reliable generation portfolio in the U.S.” It plans to explore new advanced nuclear projects, invest in renewables and increase the output of existing nuclear plants.

“Together, we will be better positioned to bring accelerated investment in everything from zero-emission nuclear energy to battery storage that will power our economy in a way that puts people and our environment first,” Novotny said in a news release. “It’s a win for every American family and business in our newly combined footprint that wants clean and reliable energy. ECP’s commitment to these goals over the last seven years was critical to the progress we have made as a company and to laying a foundation for future growth.”

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Fengate has completed the acquisition of a 50 percent stake in a Texas cogeneration facility, which supplies power and steam to a major industrial site. Photo via Fengate

Houston-based co. closes acquisition of 50 percent stake in Texas cogeneration facility

M&A Moves

Fengate Asset Management announced the financial close on the acquisition of a 50 percent interest in Freeport Power Limited, which owns a 440-megawatt cogeneration facility in Freeport, Texas.

FPL is located near the Freeport Energy Center, which is a 260-megawatt cogeneration facility that is currently owned and managed by Fengate. The two facilities work to provide cost-effective power and steam to Dow’s Freeport site, which is the largest integrated chemical manufacturing complex in the Western Hemisphere.

“We are thrilled to have closed this acquisition, which aligns with our strategy of acquiring behind-the-meter cogeneration projects with strong industrial partners like Dow,” Greg Calhoun, managing director of Infrastructure Investments at Fengate, says in a news release.

Fengate was able to acquire interest in FPL under a strategic operating partnership with asset manager Ironclad Energy. The partnership with Ironclad was established in 2022 to acquire and operate cogeneration, district energy and other power generation projects throughout North America.

“This is our second acquisition with Fengate, and we look forward to continuing our partnership to optimize and expand the portfolio,” Christopher Fanella, president and CFO of Ironclad Energy, says in the release.

Fengate opened its first U.S. office in 2017 in Houston.

“Combined heat and power projects like FPL will continue to play an important role in the U.S. power industry – especially for hard-to-abate industrial sectors – to ensure reliability, efficiency and affordability,” adds in the release.

Included in the deal, is the newly leased facility that spans 567,140 square feet and can accommodate 2.5 gigawatts of solar module manufacturing capacity. Photo via Pixabay

Solar company acquires Houston manufacturer to expand production capacity, meet growing demand

M&A moves

Solar solution company TOYO Solar announced it has agreed to acquire 100 percent of membership interests in Houston area’s Solar Plus Technology Texas LLC.

Included in the deal, is the newly leased facility that spans 567,140 square feet and can accommodate 2.5 gigawatts of solar module manufacturing capacity. The goal is to expand it to 6.5 gigawatts by 2029. TOYO Solar LLC will make a capital contribution of $19.96 million to TOYO Solar LLC.

"By acquiring Solar Plus, we will accelerate our development and leverage our team's proven manufacturing excellence, as well as the extensively established customer relationships and the brand of our sister company, Vietnam Sunergy, a Tier 1 Bloomberg NEF solar manufacturer," Junsei Ryu, chairman and CEO of TOYO, says in a news release. "We are confident that our expansion in the U.S. will effectively deliver a comprehensive solar technology solution, addressing bottlenecks for developers, meeting local content requirements for U.S. solar projects, and enhancing TOYO's competitive advantage."

The factory construction of Phase 1 has been completed, and equipment will begin to arrive by early 2025.The facility's first 1 gigawatts production is expected to commence by mid-2025 with production capacity increasing to 2.5 gigawatts by the end of 2025 according to the company.

As the demand for American-made solar panels continues amid grid reliability issues in Texas, TOYO hopes it can help with its sustainable energy solutions after having success in Vietnam and Ethiopia.

"Our strategy is to supply end customers with solar solutions that are technologically advanced, highly reliable, and cost competitive,” Ryu says in the release. “We are committed to building a robust global solar supply chain structure that efficiently and competitively serves the U.S. market and other regions, adapting to a dynamic policy environment.”

Houston-based ROGII has acquired a new software to integrate into its platform. Photo via ROGII.com

Houston geology software provider makes strategic acquisition to expand platform

growing

An advanced geosteering, geoscience, and drilling software solutions company based in Houston has announced the acquisition of of a software platform.

ROGII plans to acquire TerraSLS's TLog Mudlog Editor software, which is used to generate vertical, and horizontal striplogs for use by geologists. The acquisition “will significantly enhance ROGII's product offerings by providing operators and clients with unprecedented real-time connectivity to mudlogging data,” according to ROGII. Mudlogging is a process that involves examining the cuttings of rock brought to the surface by the drilling.

“Our acquisition of TLog marks another step forward in our mission to deliver the most advanced, real-time data solutions to the oil and gas industry,” CEO of ROGII Igor B. Uvarov says in a news release. “The integration of TLog’s capabilities into our Solo Cloud platform will revolutionize the way operators and mudlogging service companies interact, making mudlogging a truly real-time process and driving greater efficiency and collaboration.”

One way it works is that ROGII will integrate TLog into its Solo Cloud platform, which will advance mudlogging data. This gathers it all into a real-time data exchange between mudlogging service companies and its operators.

The integration will allow operators to monitor mudlogging activities in real-time, which means a possible faster and more informed decision-making processes. The user will get immediate access to data, which can help enhance collaboration and improve efficiency. In addition, the mudlogging data will be safely stored on Solo Cloud for future analysis and data integration, which assists with maintaining integrity of the data.

“We look forward to investing in further development of TLog, increasing user-friendliness, expanding adoption worldwide, and making it the industry standard, being used by all mudlogging service companies,” Uvarov adds.
Houston renewables company Proteus Power is getting acquired. Photo via

Dallas-area business to acquire Houston renewable energy co.

M&A moves

Houston-based developer of utility-scale renewable energy Proteus Power is being acquired by JBB Advanced Technologies for an undisclosed amount after founder, chairman, and CEO, John B. Billingsley signed a letter of intent to purchase.

"I know the potential of renewable energy, both for our country and for the small landowners and communities we work with," Billingsley says in a news release. "Proteus Power is just the type of company I have known and grown in the past, and we're perfectly positioned to make it a very profitable company for our investors. In the near term, this very substantial business will provide a multi-billion-dollar boost to the Texas economy, from Lubbock to Midland, across West Texas and down to the Gulf Coast."

Proteus Power currently incorporates a total of 15.5 gigawatts of utility-scale renewable energy projects, which include utility-scale solar and battery energy storage systems. Nearly 5 gigawatts of both utility-scale solar and battery energy storage should be developed at an estimated EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) cost of $3.38 billion over the next four years.

Proteus Power projects also include multiple independent system operators: ERCOT West, ERCOT Houston, ERCOT North, ERCOT South, Miso LA/MS, Miso Illinois, Miso Texas, and SPP South.

Billingsley, who launched one of the nation's largest renewable energy companies, Tri Global Energy, with the purchase of Proteus Power, continues JBB’s efforts for “clean, affordable solar energy systems to commercial concerns” according to the company.

Proteus Power headquarters in Houston will move to JBB Advanced Technologies' headquarters in Carrollton, Texas, with all current employees being retained, pending the final acquisition, which is expected in the fourth quarter of 2024.A branch office is also planned to be located in Lubbock, Texas.

"The Proteus Power development team is clearly among the best in the renewable industry today," Billingsley adds. "The company has thrived under the leadership of Chief Development Officer Dan Phillips, and we at JBBAT are fortunate to inherit such a strong team to work with us as we move forward to jump back in the energy transition."

OCI broke ground on the project in 2022. Photo via oci-global.com

Woodside to acquire clean ammonia project outside of Houston in  $2.4B deal

seeing green

Woodside Energy has announced its acquiring a Beaumont, Texas, clean ammonia project that's slated to deliver its first ammonia by 2025 and lower carbon ammonia by 2026.

The agreement is for Woodside to acquire 100 percent of OCI Clean Ammonia Holding and its lower carbon ammonia project in Beaumont in an all-cash deal of approximately $2.35 billion. According to Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill, the acquisition positions Woodside as an early mover in clean ammonia within the energy transition.

“This transaction positions Woodside in the growing lower carbon ammonia market," O’Neill says in a news release. "The potential applications for lower carbon ammonia are in power generation, marine fuels and as an industrial feedstock, as it displaces higher-emitting fuels.

“Global ammonia demand is forecast to double by 2050, with lower carbon ammonia making up nearly two-thirds of total demand," she continues. “This Project exceeds our capital allocation framework targets for new energy projects. Both phases are expected to achieve an internal rate of return above 10 percent and payback of less than 10 years."

OCI broke ground on the project in 2022. It's reportedly the world’s first ammonia plant paired with auto thermal reforming with over 95 percent carbon dioxide capture.

Phase 1 of the project will have a capacity of 1.1 million tonnes per annum and is currently under construction. The first ammonia production will be derived from natural gas and is slated for 2025, with lower carbon ammonia production — derived from natural gas paired with carbon sequestration — is expected in in 2026 following commencement of CCS operations

According to the release, Phase 2 will have the capacity to abate 3.2 million tonnes per annum CO2-e, "or over 60 percent of our Scope 3 abatement target,” O’Neill explains.

Linde will source the nitrogen and lower carbon hydrogen feedstock from its feedstock facility, which is currently under construction with a targeted completion in early 2026. In the meantime, early supply of feedstock for the project will come from various suppliers including Linde. Per the release, CCS services will be provided to Linde by ExxonMobil and are expected to be available in 2026.

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Houston companies scoop up $31 million in funds from DOE, EPA methane emissions program

fresh funds

The U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the selection of seven projects from Houston companies to receive funding through the Methane Emissions Reduction Program.

The projects are among 43 others nationwide, including 12 from Texas, that reduce, monitor, measure, and quantify methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. The DOE and EPA awarded $850 million in total through the program.

The Houston companies picked up $31.7 million in federal funding through the program in addition to more than $9.5 million in non-federal dollars.

“I’m excited about the opportunities these will create internally but even more so the creation of jobs and training opportunities for the communities in which we work,” Scott McCurdy, Encino Environmental Services CEO, said in a news release. His company received awards for two projects.

“These projects will allow us to further support and strengthen the U.S. Energy industry’s ability to deliver clean, reliable, and affordable energy globally,” he added.

The Houston-area awards included:

DaphneTech USA LLC

Total funding: $5.8 million (approximately $4.5 million in federal, $1.3 million in non-federal)

The award was granted for the company’s Daphne and Williams Methane Slip Abatement Plasma-Catalyst Scale-Up project. Daphne will study how its SlipPure technology, a novel exhaust gas cleaning system that abates methane and exhaust gas pollution from natural gas-fueled engines, can be economically viable across multiple engine types and operating conditions.

Baker Hughes Energy Transition LLC 

Total funding: $7.47 million (approximately $6 million in federal, $1.5 million in non-federal)

The award was granted for the company’s Advancing Low Cost CH4 Emissions Reduction from Flares through Large Scale Deployment of Retrofittable and Adaptive Technology project. The project aims to develop a scalable, integrated methane emissions reduction system for flares based on optical gas imaging and estimation algorithms.

Encino Environmental Services

Total funding: $15.17 million (approximately $11 million in federal, $4.17 million in non-federal)

The award was granted for two projects. The Advanced Methane Reduction System: Integrating Infrared and Visual Imaging to Assess Net Heating Value at the Combustion Zone and Determine Combustion Efficiency to Enhance Flaring Performance project aims to develop and deploy an advanced continuous emissions monitoring system. It’s Advancing Methane Emissions Reduction through Innovative Technology project will develop and deploy a technology using sensors and composite materials to address emissions originating in storage tanks.

Envana Software Solutions

Total funding: $5.26 million (approximately $4.2 million in federal, $1 million in non-federal)

The award was granted for the company’s Leak Detection and Reduction Software to Identify Methane Emissions and Trigger Mitigation at Oil and Gas Production Facilities Based on SCADA Data project. It aims to improve its Recon software for monitoring methane emissions and develop partnerships with local universities and organizations.

Capwell Services Inc.

Total funding: $4.19 million (approximately $3.3 million in federal, $837,000 in non-federal)

The award was granted for its Methane Emissions Abatement Technology for Low-Flow and Intermittent Emission Sources project. It aims to to deploy and field-test a methane abatement unit and improve air quality and health outcomes for communities near production facilities and establish field technician internships for local residents.

Blue Sky Measurements 

Total funding: $3.41 million (approximately $2.7 million in federal, $683,000 in non-federal)

The award was granted for its Field Validation of Novel Fixed Position Optical Sensor for Fugitive Methane Emission Detection Quantification and Location with Real-Time Notification for Rapid Mitigation project. It aims to field test an optical sensing technology at six well sites in the Permian Basin.

Southern Methodist University, The University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station and Hyliion Inc. were other Texas-based organizations to earn awards. See the full list of projects here.

Texas university's 'WaterHub' will dramatically reduce water usage by 40%

Sustainable Move

A major advancement in sustainability is coming to one Texas university. A new UT WaterHub at the University of Texas at Austin will be the largest facility of its kind in the U.S. and will transform how the university manages its water resources.

It's designed to work with natural processes instead of against them for water savings of an estimated 40 percent. It's slated for completion in late 2027.

The university has had an active water recovery program since the 1980s. Still, water is becoming an increasing concern in Austin. According to Texas Living Waters, a coalition of conservation groups, Texas loses enough water annually to fill Lady Bird Lake roughly 89 times over.

As Austin continues to expand and face water shortages, the region's water supply faces increased pressure. The UT WaterHub plans to address this challenge by recycling water for campus energy operations, helping preserve water resources for both the university and local communities.

The 9,600-square-foot water treatment facility will use an innovative filtration approach. To reduce reliance on expensive machinery and chemicals, the system uses plants to naturally filter water and gravity to pull it in the direction it needs to go. Used water will be gathered from a new collection point near the Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium and transported to the WaterHub, located in the heart of the engineering district. The facility's design includes a greenhouse viewable to the public, serving as an interactive learning space.

Beyond water conservation, the facility is designed to protect the university against extreme weather events like winter storms. This new initiative will create a reliable backup water supply while decreasing university water usage, and will even reduce wastewater sent to the city by up to 70 percent.

H2O Innovation, UT’s collaborator in this project, specializes in water solutions, helping organizations manage their water efficiently.

"By combining cutting-edge technology with our innovative financing approach, we’re making it easier for organizations to adopt sustainable water practices that benefit both their bottom line and the environment, paving a step forward in water positivity,” said H2O Innovation president and CEO Frédéric Dugré in a press release.

The university expects significant cost savings with this project, since it won't have to spend as much on buying water from the city or paying fees to dispose of used water. Over the next several years, this could add up to millions of dollars.

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A version of this story originally appeared on our sister site, CultureMap Austin.

Report: Texas solar power, battery storage helped stabilize grid in summer 2024, but challenges remain

by the numbers

Research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas shows that solar power and battery storage capacity helped stabilize Texas’ electric grid last summer.

Between June 1 and Aug. 31, solar power met nearly 25 percent of midday electricity demand within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) power grid. Rising solar and battery output in ERCOT assisted Texans during a summer of triple-digit heat and record load demands, but the report fears that the state’s power load will be “pushed to its limits” soon.

The report examined how the grid performed during more demanding hours. At peak times, between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the summer of 2024, solar output averaged nearly 17,000 megawatts compared with 12,000 megawatts during those hours in the previous year. Between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., discharge from battery facilities averaged 714 megawatts in 2024 after averaging 238 megawatts for those hours in 2023. Solar and battery output have continued to grow since then, according to the report.

“Batteries made a meaningful contribution to what those shoulder periods look like and how much scarcity we get into during these peak events,” ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas said at a board of directors conference call.

Increases in capacity from solar and battery-storage power in 2024 also eclipsed those of 2023. In 2023 ECOT added 4,570 megawatts of solar, compared to adding nearly 9,700 megawatts in 2024. Growth in battery storage capacity also increased from about 1,500 megawatts added in 2023 to more than 4,000 megawatts added in 2024. Natural gas capacity also saw increases while wind capacity dropped by about 50 percent.

Texas’ installation of utility-scale solar surpassed California’s in the spring of last year, and jumped from 1,900 megawatts in 2019 to over 20,000 megawatts in 2024 with solar meeting about 50 percent of Texas' peak power demand during some days.

While the numbers are encouraging, the report states that there could be future challenges, as more generating capacity will be required due to data center construction and broader electrification trends. The development of generating more capacity will rely on multiple factors like price signals and market conditions that invite more baseload and dispatchable generating capacity, which includes longer-duration batteries, and investment in power purchase agreements and other power arrangements by large-scale consumers, according to the report.

Additionally, peak demand during winter freezes presents challenges not seen in the summer. For example, in colder months, peak electricity demand often occurs in the early morning before solar energy is available, and it predicts that current battery storage may be insufficient to meet the demand. The analysis indicated a 50% chance of rolling outages during a cold snap similar to December 2022 and an 80% chance if conditions mirror the February 2021 deep freeze at the grid’s current state.

The report also claimed that ERCOT’s energy-only market design and new incentive structures, such as the Texas Energy Fund, do not appear to be enough to meet the predicted future magnitude and speed of load growth.

Read the full report here.

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