Solar surpasses coal to become ERCOT’s third-largest power source in 2025

by the numbers

Solar represented 14 percent of energy supplied to the ERCOT electric grid in 2025. Photo via bp.com

Solar barely eclipsed coal to become the third biggest source of energy generated for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) in 2025, according to new data.

In 2024, solar represented 10 percent of energy supplied to the ERCOT electric grid. Last year, that number climbed to 14 percent. During the same period, coal’s share remained at 13 percent.

From the largest to smallest share, here’s the breakdown of other ERCOT energy sources in 2025 compared with 2024:

Combined-cycle gas: 33 percent, down from 35 percent in 2024
Wind: 23 percent, down from 24 percent in 2024
Natural gas: 8 percent, down from 9 percent in 2024
Nuclear: 8 percent, unchanged from 2024
Other sources: 1 percent, unchanged from 2024

Combined, solar and wind accounted for 37 percent of ERCOT energy sources.

Looking ahead, solar promises to reign as the star of the ERCOT show:

An ERCOT report released in December 2024 said solar is on track to continue outpacing other energy sources in terms of growth of installed generating capacity, followed by battery energy storage.
In December, ERCOT reported that more than 11,100 megawatts of new generating capacity had been added to its grid since the previous winter. One megawatt of electricity serves about 250 homes in peak-demand periods. Battery energy storage made up 47 percent of the new capacity, with solar in second place at 40 percent.

The mix of ERCOT’s energy is critical to Texas’ growing need for electricity, as ERCOT manages about 90 percent of the electric load for the state, including the Houston metro area. Data centers, AI and population growth are driving heightened demand for electricity.

In the first nine months of 2025, Texas added a nation-leading 7.4 gigawatts of solar capacity, according to a report from data and analytics firm Wood Mackenzie and the Solar Energy Industries Association.

“Remarkable growth in Texas, Indiana, Utah and other states ... shows just how decisively the market is moving toward solar,” says Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the solar association.

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Time is of the essence in getting power plants online. Getty Images

Big Tech's soaring energy demands making coal-fired power plant sites attractive

Transforming Coal Power

Coal-fired power plants, long an increasingly money-losing proposition in the U.S., are becoming more valuable now that the suddenly strong demand for electricity to run Big Tech's cloud computing and artificial intelligence applications has set off a full-on sprint to find new energy sources.

President Donald Trump — who has pushed for U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market and suggested that coal can help meet surging power demand — is wielding his emergency authority to entice utilities to keep older coal-fired plants online and producing electricity.

While some utilities were already delaying the retirement of coal-fired plants, the scores of coal-fired plants that have been shut down the past couple years — or will be shut down in the next couple years — are the object of growing interest from tech companies, venture capitalists, states and others competing for electricity.

That’s because they have a very attractive quality: high-voltage lines connecting to the electricity grid that they aren’t using anymore and that a new power plant could use.

That ready-to-go connection could enable a new generation of power plants — gas, nuclear, wind, solar or even battery storage — to help meet the demand for new power sources more quickly.

For years, the bureaucratic nightmare around building new high-voltage power lines has ensnared efforts to get permits for such interconnections for new power plants, said John Jacobs, an energy policy analyst for the Washington, D.C.-based Bipartisan Policy Center.

“They are very interested in the potential here. Everyone sort of sees the writing on the wall for the need for transmission infrastructure, the need for clean firm power, the difficulty with siting projects and the value of reusing brownfield sites,” Jacobs said.

Rising power demand, dying coal plants

Coincidentally, the pace of retirements of the nation's aging coal-fired plants had been projected to accelerate at a time when electricity demand is rising for the first time in decades.

The Department of Energy, in a December report, said its strategy for meeting that demand includes re-using coal plants, which have been unable to compete with a flood of cheap natural gas while being burdened with tougher pollution regulations aimed at its comparatively heavy emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases.

There are federal incentives, as well — such as tax credits and loan guarantees — that encourage the redevelopment of retired coal-fired plants into new energy sources.

Todd Snitchler, president and CEO of the Electric Power Supply Association, which represents independent power plant owners, said he expected Trump's executive orders will mean some coal-fired plants run longer than they would have — but that they are still destined for retirement.

Surging demand means power plants are needed, fast

Time is of the essence in getting power plants online.

Data center developers are reporting a yearlong wait in some areas to connect to the regional electricity grid. Rights-of-way approvals to build power lines can also be difficult to secure, given objections by neighbors who may not want to live near them.

Stephen DeFrank, chairman of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, said he believes rising energy demand has made retiring coal-fired plants far more valuable.

That's especially true now that the operator of the congested mid-Atlantic power grid has re-configured its plans to favor sites like retired coal-fired plants as a shortcut to meet demand, DeFrank said.

“That’s going to make these properties more valuable because now, as long as I’m shovel ready, these power plants have that connection already established, I can go in and convert it to whatever," DeFrank said.

Gas, solar and more at coal power sites

In Pennsylvania, the vast majority of conversions is likely to be natural gas because Pennsylvania sits atop the prolific Marcellus Shale reservoir, DeFrank said.

In states across the South, utilities are replacing retiring or retired coal units with gas. That includes a plant owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority; a Duke Energy project in North Carolina; and a Georgia Power plant.

The high-voltage lines at retired coal plants on the Atlantic Coast in New Jersey and Massachusetts were used to connect offshore wind turbines to electricity grids.

In Alabama, the site of a coal-fired plant, Plant Gorgas, shuttered in 2019, will become home to Alabama Power’s first utility-scale battery energy storage plant.

Texas-based Vistra, meanwhile, is in the process of installing solar panels and energy storage plants at a fleet of retired and still-operating coal-fired plants it owns in Illinois, thanks in part to state subsidies approved there in 2021.

Nuclear might be coming

Nuclear is also getting a hard look.

In Arizona, lawmakers are advancing legislation to make it easier for three utilities there — Arizona Public Service, Salt River Project and Tucson Electric Power — to put advanced nuclear reactors on the sites of retiring coal-fired plants.

At the behest of Indiana's governor, Purdue University studied how the state could attract a new nuclear power industry. In its November report, it estimated that reusing a coal-fired plant site for a new nuclear power plant could reduce project costs by between 7% and 26%.

The Bipartisan Policy Center, in a 2023 study before electricity demand began spiking, estimated that nuclear plants could cut costs from 15% to 35% by building at a retiring coal plant site, compared to building at a new site.

Even building next to the coal plant could cut costs by 10% by utilizing transmission assets, roads and buildings while avoiding some permitting hurdles, the center said.

That interconnection was a major driver for Terrapower when it chose to start construction in Wyoming on a next-generation nuclear power plant next to PacifiCorp’s coal-fired Naughton Power Plant.

Jobs, towns left behind by coal

Kathryn Huff, a former U.S. assistant secretary for nuclear energy who is now an associate professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, said the department analyzed how many sites might be suitable to advanced nuclear reactor plants.

A compelling factor is the workers from coal plants who can be trained for work at a nuclear plant, Huff said. Those include electricians, welders and steam turbine maintenance technicians.

In Homer City, the dread of losing its coal-fired plant — it shut down in 2023 after operating for 54 years — existed for years in the hills of western Pennsylvania’s coal country.

“It’s been a rough 20 years here for our area, maybe even longer than that, with the closing of the mines, and this was the final nail, with the closing of the power plant,” said Rob Nymick, Homer City's manager. “It was like, ‘Oh my god, what do we do?’”

That is changing.

The plant's owners in recent weeks demolished the smoke stacks and cooling towers at the Homer City Generating State and announced a $10 billion plan for a natural gas-powered data center campus.

It would be the nation’s third-largest power generator and that has sown some optimism locally.

“Maybe we will get some families moving in, it would help the school district with their enrollment, it would help us with our population,” Nymick said. “We’re a dying town and hopefully maybe we can get a restaurant or two to open up and start thriving again. We’re hoping.”

Energy sources are often categorized as renewable or not, but perhaps a more accurate classification focuses on the type of reaction that converts energy into useful matter. Photo by simpson33/Getty Images

How is energy produced?

ENERGY 101

Many think of the Energy Industry as a dichotomy–old vs. new, renewable vs. nonrenewable, good vs. bad. But like most things, energy comes from an array of sources, and each kind has its own unique benefits and challenges. Understanding the multi-faceted identity of currently available energy sources creates an environment in which new ideas for cleaner and more sustainable energy sourcing can proliferate.

At a high level, energy can be broadly categorized by the process of extracting and converting it into a useful form.

Energy Produced from Chemical Reaction

Energy derived from coal, crude oil, natural gas, and biomass is primarily produced as a result of bonds breaking during a chemical reaction. When heated, burned, or fermented, organic matter releases energy, which is converted into mechanical or electrical energy.

These sources can be stored, distributed, and shared relatively easily and do not have to be converted immediately for power consumption. However, the resulting chemical reaction produces environmentally harmful waste products.

Though the processes to extract these organic sources of energy have been refined for many years to achieve reliable and cheap energy, they can be risky and are perceived as invasive to mother nature.

According to the 2022 bp Statistical Review of World Energy, approximately 50% of the world’s energy consumption comes from petroleum and natural gas; another 25% from coal. Though there was a small decline in demand for oil from 2019 to 2021, the overall demand for fossil fuels remained unchanged during the same time frame, mostly due to the increase in natural gas and coal consumption.

Energy Produced from Mechanical Reaction

Energy captured from the earth’s heat or the movement of wind and water results from the mechanical processes enabled by the turning of turbines in source-rich environments. These turbines spin to produce electricity inside a generator.

Solar energy does not require the use of a generator but produces electricity due to the release of electrons from the semiconducting materials found on a solar panel. The electricity produced by geothermal, wind, solar, and hydropower is then converted from direct current to alternating current electricity.

Electricity is most useful for immediate consumption, as storage requires the use of batteries–a process that turns electrical energy into chemical energy that can then be accessed in much the same way that coal, crude oil, natural gas, and biomass produce energy.

Energy Produced from a Combination of Reactions

Hydrogen energy comes from a unique blend of both electrical and chemical energy processes. Despite hydrogen being the most abundant element on earth, it is rarely found on its own, requiring a two-step process to extract and convert energy into a usable form. Hydrogen is primarily produced as a by-product of fossil fuels, with its own set of emissions challenges related to separating the hydrogen from the hydrocarbons.

Many use electrolysis to separate hydrogen from other elements before performing a chemical reaction to create electrical energy inside of a contained fuel cell. The electrolysis process is certainly a more environmentally-friendly solution, but there are still great risks with hydrogen energy–it is highly flammable, and its general energy output is less than that of other electricity-generating methods.

Energy Produced from Nuclear Reaction

Finally, energy originating from the splitting of an atom’s nucleus, mostly through nuclear fission, is yet another way to produce energy. A large volume of heat is released when an atom is bombarded by neutrons in a nuclear power plant, which is then converted to electrical energy.

This process also produces a particularly sensitive by-product known as radiation, and with it, radioactive waste. The proper handling of radiation and radioactive waste is of utmost concern, as its effects can be incredibly damaging to the environment surrounding a nuclear power plant.

Nuclear fission produces minimal carbon, so nuclear energy is oft considered environmentally safe–as long as strict protocols are followed to ensure proper storage and disposal of radiation and radioactive waste.

Nuclear to Mechanical to Chemical?

Interestingly enough, the Earth’s heat comes from the decay of radioactive materials in the Earth’s core, loosely linking nuclear power production back to geothermal energy production.

It’s also clear the conversion of energy into electricity is the cleanest option for the environment, yet adequate infrastructure remains limited in supply and accessibility. If not consumed immediately as electricity, energy is thus converted into a chemical form for the convenience of storage and distribution it provides.

Perhaps the expertise and talent of Houstonians serving the flourishing academic and industrial sectors of energy development will soon resolve many of our current energy challenges by exploring further the circular dynamic of the energy environment. Be sure to check out our Events Page to find the networking event that best serves your interest in the Energy Transition.

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Lindsey Ferrell is a contributing writer to EnergyCapitalHTX and founder of Guerrella & Co.

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Houston's KBR to provide tech for Singapore SAF plant

SAF agreement

Houston engineering and technology contractor KBR has been picked as the technology provider for what’s expected to be Asia's first commercial-scale ethanol-to-jet sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant.

The proposed plant on Jurong Island in Singapore is being developed by Keppel Ltd.’s Infrastructure Division and Aster Chemicals and Energy. KBR will provide technology licensing and Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) services based on its PureSAF technology.

The plant has a planned production capacity of up to 100,000 tons of SAF per year. The plant is subject to final investment decisions and regulatory approvals.

“We are looking forward to working with Keppel and Aster on this key project and to support Singapore’s ambition of becoming Asia’s leading SAF hub and advancing the ongoing efforts to decarbonize the country’s aviation ecosystem,” Stuart Bradie, KBR president and CEO, said in a news release.

According to KBR, its PureSAF Technology can process multiple feedstocks like bioethanol, syngas, carbon dioxide and hydrogen and convert them to SAF, diesel and gasoline.

The technology was developed by Swedish Biofuels AB and commercialized by KBR.

“KBR’s PureSAF is a feedstock-flexible, bankable technology that is designed to deliver a 100% drop in jet fuel, ready to power aircraft without blending,” Bradie added in the news release. “We are constantly innovating our SAF solution to make it compatible with feedstock availability in different regions and to enable the aviation industry to transition to low-carbon jet fuel with a cost-optimized approach.

KBR has also entered into a memorandum of intent with Keppel’s Infrastructure Division, which states that the companies will collaborate again on decarbonization efforts across biofuels, plastic recycling, digitalization via AI, and SAF.

KBR announced in October that it would spin off its Mission Technology Solutions business, nicknamed SpinCo. The scaled-down KBR, nicknamed RemainCo, would concentrate solely on sustainability technology and services designed to reduce carbon emissions and support energy transition efforts. SpinCo named its new CEO and CFO earlier this month.

Houston energy expert discusses why hydrogen still has a future

Guets Column

Not long ago, hydrogen was hailed as the next big thing in clean energy. Investors poured in, and countries from Japan to Germany built ambitious hydrogen strategies. It wasn’t a new discovery; hydrogen has been used for over a century in refineries and fertilizers, but it suddenly found itself reborn as the world began working toward decarbonization.

When hydrogen burns, the only byproduct is water. Green hydrogen, produced with renewable power, could replace fossil fuels in everything from trucks to ships to steel mills. But the momentum has cooled. Costs remain stubbornly high, several projects have been delayed or canceled, and policy support has wavered. In the U.S., a change in administration has created uncertainty. In Europe, some governments are slowing funding or revising hydrogen mandates. Even the International Maritime Organization (IMO) recently postponed a key vote on fuel-carbon standards.

Yet as Mike Graff , former Chairman and CEO of American Air Liquide, said in an Energy Forum episode with Ed Emmett at Rice University’s Baker Institute, “The world is always looking to make sure that energy is first available, it’s affordable, and then it’s clean. And I see hydrogen over time evolving in that manner.” He also noted that “companies have produced hydrogen and utilized hydrogen for over 100 years, and they’ve done that very safely… I think we can continue that moving forward.”

China has doubled down on hydrogen as part of its industrial strategy, building massive electrolyzer manufacturing capacity and funding dozens of pilot projects across transportation and heavy industry. Japan and South Korea also stand out as examples of how sustained policy support can drive hydrogen progress.

Where Hydrogen Fits Today

To understand hydrogen’s role now, it helps to remember what it actually does. About 76 percent of global hydrogen is produced from natural gas and used in refineries, fertilizer plants, and chemical production. This so-called “gray hydrogen” is essential but carbon-intensive.

What’s new is the rise of low-carbon hydrogen, “blue” hydrogen made from natural gas with carbon capture, and “green” hydrogen produced by splitting water with renewable electricity. These methods are expensive, but they’re growing. According to the International Energy Agency, global low-emissions hydrogen output rose about 10 percent in 2024.

Hydrogen is also expanding beyond industry. As Graff explained, it already powers thousands of forklifts in warehouses across the U.S. and is beginning to appear in commercial trucking, locomotives, and even aviation prototypes. “You can now drive 600 to 800 miles on a hydrogen fuel-cell truck,” he noted, “and refuel in 30 minutes, just like you would refill for diesel.”

The Cost Challenge and a Gulf Coast Opportunity

So why the slowdown? One word: economics.

Even with generous tax credits, green hydrogen can cost two to three times more than conventional fuels. Electrolyzers are still expensive, though costs are falling as Chinese suppliers introduce low-cost alternatives.

Infrastructure is another hurdle. Pipelines, storage, and fueling networks need to be built from scratch.

But those same challenges point to opportunity, especially along the U.S. Gulf Coast. The region already has one of the world’s largest hydrogen pipeline systems and a well-established energy infrastructure. Texas, in particular, has a head start. It already hosts nearly 1,000 miles of hydrogen pipelines, about 64 percent of the U.S. total, and some of the world’s largest hydrogen storage sites at Moss Bluff, Spindletop, and Clemens. Out of 140 hydrogen plants operating nationwide, 43 are in Texas, supported by extensive refining and natural gas infrastructure. This combination of assets gives the Gulf Coast an unmatched foundation to scale low-carbon hydrogen and integrate production, storage, and end use across industries.

As Ken Medlock , Senior Director of the Center for Energy Studies at Rice University’s Baker Institute, explains in his report: Developing a Robust Hydrogen Market in Texas, Texas has all the critical elements needed to lead in a low-carbon hydrogen economy, including existing infrastructure, a skilled workforce, and proximity to industrial demand centers. That combination gives it a distinct advantage in scaling up hydrogen production and use.

Governments around the world are showing renewed confidence in hydrogen. The European Commission awarded nearly €3 billion to 13 major projects, while Japan and South Korea continue expanding fueling networks. China is leading one of the most ambitious buildouts, with more than 50 planned hydrogen projects and a rapidly growing fleet of fuel-cell vehicles. Despite recent setbacks, global investment has surpassed $100 billion, and projects in places such as Chile, where strong renewables and low-cost Chinese equipment help make projects feasible, are moving toward final investment decisions.

What Comes Next

Hydrogen’s future won’t depend on replacing every fuel, but on filling the gaps where batteries and biofuels fall short.

Transportation: This is where momentum is strongest today. Batteries dominate cars, but hydrogen fuel cells excel in heavy trucks, ships, and planes. As Graff noted, “You can design a commercial vehicle with the same utility as diesel but powered by hydrogen.” Airbus and Boeing are testing hydrogen propulsion concepts, and several ports are experimenting with hydrogen bunkering for cargo ships.

Industry: Steel, cement, and chemicals account for a quarter of global emissions. Hydrogen-based direct-reduced-iron (DRI) steelmaking is being piloted in Europe and Asia and could transform how these materials are produced at scale.

Storage: Hydrogen can store energy for days or weeks, serving as backup for renewables like wind and solar. But storage remains very costly and may only prove viable for the “last mile” of greenhouse gas reduction or grid stability.

These uses may sound niche, but that’s how technologies scale. They start small, gain an economic foothold, and expand as costs decline.

Conclusion

Hydrogen's early, perhaps irrational, exuberance may have cooled, but amidst the rubble of cancelled projects are the beginnings of an industry that could play a vital niche role on the journey towards a lower carbon intensity energy future. As costs fall and infrastructure around the world expands, hydrogen's role will expand into the nooks and crannies of the energy industry.

It won't replace every fuel, but it doesn't have to. Success will come from steady, project-by-project progress.

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Scott Nyquist is a senior advisor at McKinsey & Company and vice chairman, Houston Energy Transition Initiative of the Greater Houston Partnership. The views expressed herein are Nyquist's own and not those of McKinsey & Company or of the Greater Houston Partnership. This article originally appeared on LinkedIn.

Houston energy startup launches to power AI data centers with Microsoft agreement

power move

Buoyed by a purchase agreement from Microsoft, Houston-based Joulent recently launched to build power plants that meet the electricity demands of AI data centers and other computing-heavy industries.

Joulent builds dedicated power-generating facilities that feed directly into data centers and other power-dependent facilities, eliminating the need for companies to siphon power from grids. Joulent’s plants combine generation, storage and smart controls in a modular, scalable setup, according to a news release.

Investment firm Engine No. 1 established Joulent in collaboration with energy technology company GE Vernova.

Joulent’s first project, the Project Kilby natural gas facility in West Texas, will be co-located with a Microsoft data center. It’ll deliver about 2.67 gigawatts of power under a 20-year deal between Microsoft and Energy Forge One, a subsidiary of Houston-based Chevron. Engine No. 1 and Chevron teamed up to build the plant.

GE Vernova will supply most of the plant’s power capacity, with additional capacity coming from Solar Turbines, a subsidiary of Irving-based construction and mining equipment manufacturer Caterpillar.

“Leadership in the AI era will be determined by who can deliver energy and compute the fastest, most reliably, and at the lowest cost,” Chris James, founder and CEO of Engine No. 1 and Joulent, said in a news release.

“By building new power-generating facilities, Joulent enables customers across industries to power the next chapter of American innovation, while reducing pressure on existing grids and maintaining affordability for ratepayers.”

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