Houston geothermal company grows relationship with Google to provide power to Nevada

powering up

Through a first-of-its-kind proposal, Las Vegas-based public utility NV Energy would supply geothermal power generated by Fervo Energy for Google’s two data centers in Nevada. Screenshot via Google

Houston-based Fervo Energy’s geothermal energy soon will help power the world’s most popular website.

Through a first-of-its-kind proposal, Las Vegas-based public utility NV Energy would supply 115 megawatts of geothermal power generated by Fervo for Google’s two data centers in Nevada. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

In 2021, Google teamed up with Fervo to develop a pilot project for geothermal power in Nevada. Two years later, electricity from this project started flowing into the Nevada grid serving the two Google data centers. Google spent $600 million to build each of the centers, which are in Henderson, a Las Vegas suburb, and Storey County, which is east of Reno.

The proposed agreement with NV Energy would bring about 25 times more geothermal power capacity to the Nevada grid, Google says, and enable more around-the-clock clean power for the search engine company’s Nevada data centers.

A data center gobbles up 10 to 50 times the energy per square foot of floor space that a typical office building does, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

“NV Energy and Google’s partnership to develop new solutions to bring clean … energy technology — like enhanced geothermal — onto Nevada’s grid at this scale is remarkable. This innovative proposal will not be paid for by NV Energy’s other customers but will help ensure all our customers benefit from cleaner, greener energy resources,” Doug Cannon, president and CEO of NV Energy, says in a Google blog post.

Utility regulators still must sign off on the proposal.

“If approved, it provides a blueprint for other utilities and large customers in Nevada to accelerate clean energy goals,” Cannon says.

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Tokyo Gas America has scored over $100 million in investment tax credits for project in Brazoria County that will supply power to Houstonians.

Houston energy co. secures $118.5M for battery energy storage project in south Texas

renewables coming soon

Houston-based Tokyo Gas America has received $118.5 million in investment tax credits for its battery energy storage system in Brazoria County. The system will supply power for the Houston-area territory served by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).

San Francisco-based institutional fund sponsor Foss & Co. provided the tax equity for the Longbow BESS project, being developed by New York City-based Clean Capital Partners. Construction on the 174-megawatt battery energy storage system began earlier this year, and the project is expected to come online this summer.

“Longbow BESS represents a significant step forward in our commitment to providing clean and reliable energy solutions,” Ken Kiriishi, senior vice president of Tokyo Gas America, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokyo Gas Co., says in a news release.

Earlier this year, Tokyo Gas America completed its $216 million purchase of Longbow BESS from Clean Capital Partners.

With the goal of owning and operating more than five gigawatts of renewable generation projects by 2030, Tokyo Gas America entered the U.S. renewables market in 2020 through its acquisition of the Aktina Solar Project. Tokyo Gas America bought the project from Chicago-based Hecate Energy, which develops, owns, and operates renewable energy projects in the U.S.

Aktina is the largest solar project in Texas, encompassing 1.4 million solar modules across 4,000 acres in Wharton County. The project, capable of generating as much as 500 megawatts of renewable energy, can power as many as 100,000 homes.

Aktina, which came online in 2021, supplies power to the ERCOT wholesale market. Construction of the roughly $3.2 million project recently wrapped up.

In February, Tokyo Gas America announced it had set up two subsidiaries to promote it gas marketing and trading operations in North America. As part of this venture, Tokyo Gas bought a 49 percent stake in ARM Energy Trading. Houston-based ARM Energy Holdings is the majority owner of ARM Energy Trading.

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Investment giant to acquire TXNM Energy for $11.5 billion

m&a moves

Blackstone Infrastructure, an investment giant with $600 million in assets under management, has agreed to buy publicly traded TXNM Energy in a debt-and-stock deal valued at $11.5 billion.

TXNM Energy is the parent company of Lewisville-based Texas New Mexico Power (TNMP), which supplies electricity to more than 270,000 homes and businesses throughout Texas. Its Houston-area service territory includes Alvin, Angleton, Brazoria, Dickinson, Friendswood, La Marque, League City, Sweeny, Texas City and West Columbia.

Once Blackstone Infrastructure wraps up the deal in the second half of 2026, Albuquerque, New Mexico-based TXNM will no longer be a public company. But TNMP’s headquarters will remain in Texas and its rates will continue to be set by the Public Utility Commission of Texas. TNMP was founded in 1934.

Blackstone Infrastructure is affiliated with investment powerhouse Blackstone Inc., which has $1.2 trillion in assets under management and is the world’s largest investment manager.

“TNMP has done an excellent job of meeting its customers’ growing demand for electricity and supporting the communities it serves,” Sean Klimczak, Blackstone’s global head of infrastructure, said in a news release. “We look forward to utilizing our long-term investment commitments to support TNMP as they continue on this path of high-demand growth across Texas.”

During TXNM’s fourth-quarter earnings call in February, Chairwoman and CEO Patricia Vincent-Collawn said the company’s five-year Texas capital investment plan had grown by more than $1 billion.

“Our future is so bright with these increased investment levels that we are now targeting earnings growth of 7 percent to 9 percent through 2029,” Vincent-Collawn said.

“Our financial expectations are driven by the continued expansion of grid infrastructure supporting growth and reliability in our Texas service territory,” she added.

In 2024, TXNM reported revenue of $1.96 billion, up 1.7 percent from the previous year.

$135 million Houston battery storage facility breaks ground

coming soon

SMT Energy and CenterPoint Energy have partnered with utility infrastructure solutions provider Irby Construction Company to break ground on a 160 megawatt battery energy storage system (BESS) located in the Houston zone of the ERCOT market.

“We are proud to be underway and deliver this grid-strengthening project to Houston,” Kevin Midei, SVP of engineering, procurement and construction, at SMT Energy, said in a news release.

The BESS, SMT Houston IV, is expected to support grid stability, deliver fast-response power during peak demands and provide resiliency and renewable integration. The project is expected to be online by 2026 and store and dispatch enough electricity to power 8,800 homes in Texas annually.

SMT Energy is the project owner and developer, and CenterPoint Energy will serve as the interconnecting utility, integrating the system into Houston’s broader electrical network,” according to the companies. Irby Construction will serve as the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor, and construction of the project is expected to be completed by July. On May 14, the companies broke ground with a ribbon-cutting ceremony to symbolize the start of the build.

“Projects like this demonstrate how collaboration and forward-thinking infrastructure come together to power a more resilient energy future,” Tony Gardner, SVP and chief customer officer at CenterPoint, said in a news release. “At CenterPoint, we recently completed nearly 90 percent of our overall grid resiliency improvements. This is one more action we are taking to build a more resilient and reliable grid to better serve our customers.”

In March, Colorado-based SMT Energy secured $135 million in funding for the SMT Houston IV, led by Macquarie and KeyBanc Capital Markets as joint lead arrangers. In 2023, SMT Energy and joint venture partner SUSI Partners announced plans to add 10 battery storage projects to Texas, which would double capacity from 100 megawatts to 200 megawatts in the Houston and Dallas areas.

In 2019, Irby began construction on the Manatee BESS site with Florida Power and Light (FPL), which was the world’s largest BESS project at the time. Irby has built over 30 BESS sites and has more than 20 currently under construction or contract.

Daikin completes solar plant to power massive Houston-area campus

switched on

Japanese HVAC company Daikin Industries has completed a nearly one-megawatt solar power plant at its Daikin Comfort Technologies North America campus southeast of Waller.

Daikin says the new plant at its 4.2 million-square-foot Daikin Texas Technology Park will eliminate an estimated 845 metric tons of carbon emissions each year. The park houses the largest HVAC factory in North America.

“Daikin’s unwavering commitment to innovation drives us to continually perfect the air we share. With the launch of this solar project, we’re one step closer to being a net-zero CO2 emission factory by 2030,” Nathan Walker, senior vice president of environmental business development of locally based Daikin Comfort Technologies North America, said in a release. “This installation is a significant step in reducing our carbon footprint and underscores our commitment to energy efficiency, sustainability, and environmental stewardship.”

Solar power from the new facility will power the Daikin campus’ central chiller plant, which circulates about 125,000 gallons of chilled water annually and 75,000 gallons of hot water in the winter. Also, the solar setup is designed to connect to the electric grid that serves the campus. About 10,000 people work at the campus.

Daikin, a Fortune 1000 company, may not have been a familiar name to some Houstonians until January, when it took over the naming rights for the Houston Astros’ stadium. The naming rights agreement for Daikin Park, formerly Minute Maid Park, expires during the Astros’ 2039 season. The stadium had been named Minute Maid Park since 2002.

“The Astros are the pride of Houston, an organization that has built resiliency in hard times, and have succeeded to be a winning team. The coming together of both our organizations is a symbol of our love for our hometown and the communities of the Greater Houston area,” Takayuki “Taka” Inoue, executive vice president and chief sales and marketing officer at Daikin Comfort Technologies North America, said in November.

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