Thanks to a new partnership, Engie North America plans to add 'precycling' provisions to power purchase agreements on projects in the Midwest. Photo via Getting Images.

Houston-based Engie North America has partnered with Arizona-based Solarcycle to recycle 1 million solar panels on forthcoming projects with a goal of achieving project circularity.

The collaboration allows Engie to incorporate "precycling" provisions into power purchase agreements made on 375 megawatts worth of projects in the Midwest, which are expected to be completed in the next few years, according to a news release from Engie.

Engie will use Solarcycle's advanced tracking capabilities to ensure that every panel on the selected projects is recycled once it reaches its end of life, and that the recovered materials are returned to the supply chain.

Additionally, all construction waste and system components for the selected projects will be recycled "to the maximum degree possible," according to Engie.

“We are delighted to bring this innovative approach to life. Our collaboration with Solarcycle demonstrates the shared commitment we have to the long-term sustainability of our industry,” Caroline Mead, SVP power marketing at ENGIE North America, said in the release.

Solarcyle, which repairs, refurbishes, reuses and recycles solar power systems, estimates that the collaboration and new provisions will help divert 48 million pounds of material from landfills and avoid 33,000 tons of carbon emissions.

“ENGIE’s precycling provision sets a new precedent for the utility-scale solar industry by proving that circular economy principles can be achieved without complex regulatory intervention and in a way that doesn’t require an up-front payment," Jesse Simons, co-founder and chief commercial officer at SOLARCYCLE, added in the release. "We’re happy to work creatively with leaders like ENGIE to support their commitment to circularity, domestic energy, and sustainability.”

Enbridge Inc. is now generating 130 megawatts of energy from its Orange Grove solar project near Corpus Christi. Photo courtesy Enbridge

Enbridge activates first solar power project in Texas

power on

Canadian energy company Enbridge Inc., whose gas transmission and midstream operations are based in Houston, has flipped the switch on its first solar power project in Texas.

The Orange Grove project, about 45 miles west of Corpus Christi, is now generating 130 megawatts of energy that feeds into the grid operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). ERCOT supplies electricity to 90 percent of the state.

Orange Grove features 300,000 solar panels installed on more than 920 acres in Jim Wells County. Construction began in 2024.

Telecom giant AT&T has signed a long-term power purchase agreement with Enbridge to buy energy from Orange Grove at a fixed price. Rather than physically acquiring this power, though, AT&T will receive renewable energy certificates. One renewable energy certificate represents the consumption of one megawatt of grid power from renewable energy sources such as solar and wind.

“Orange Grove is a key part of our commitment to develop, construct, and operate onshore renewable projects across North America,” Matthew Akman, executive vice president of corporate strategy and president of renewable power at Enbridge, said in 2024.

Orange Grove isn’t Enbridge’s only Texas project. Enbridge owns the 110-megawatt Keechi wind farm in Jacksboro, about 60 miles northwest of Fort Worth, and the 249.1-megawatt Chapman Ranch wind farm near Corpus Christi, along with a majority stake in the 203.3-megatt Magic Valley I wind farm near Harlingen. The company’s 815-megawatt Sequoia solar project, east of Abilene, is scheduled to go online in early 2026. Enbridge has signed long-term power purchase agreements with AT&T and Toyota North America for energy produced by Sequoia.

During a recent earnings call, Enbridge President and CEO Greg Ebel said that given the “unprecedented demand for power generation across North America,” driven largely by explosive growth in the data center sector, the company expects to unveil more renewable energy projects.

“The policy landscape for renewables is dynamic,” Ebel said, “but we think we are well-positioned with our portfolio of late-stage (projects).”

A new study puts Texas at No. 2 among the states most at risk for power outages this summer. Photo via Getty Images

Texas plugs in among states at highest risk for summer power outages in 2025

by the numbers

Warning: Houston could be in for an especially uncomfortable summer.

A new study from solar energy company Wolf River Electric puts Texas at No. 2 among the states most at risk for power outages this summer. Michigan tops the list.

Wolf River Electric analyzed the number of large-scale outages that left more than 5,000 utility customers, including homes, stores and schools, without summertime electricity from 2019 to 2023. During that period, Texas experienced 7,164 summertime power outages.

Despite Michigan being hit with more summertime outages, Texas led the list of states with the most hours of summertime power outages — an annual average of 35,440. That works out to 1,477 days. “This means power cuts in Texas tend to last longer, making summer especially tough for residents and businesses,” the study says.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which operates the electric grid serving 90 percent of the state, predicts its system will set a monthly record for peak demand this August — 85,759 megawatts. That would exceed the current record of 85,508 megawatts, dating back to August 2023.

In 2025, natural gas will account for 37.7 percent of ERCOT’s summertime power-generating capacity, followed by wind (22.9 percent) and solar (19 percent), according to an ERCOT fact sheet.

This year, ERCOT expects four months to surpass peak demand of 80,000 megawatts:

  • June 2025 — 82,243 megawatts
  • July 2025 — 84,103 megawatts
  • August 2025 — 85,759 megawatts
  • September 2025 — 80,773 megawatts

One megawatt is enough power to serve about 250 residential customers amid peak demand, according to ERCOT. Using that figure, the projected peak of 85,759 megawatts in August would supply enough power to serve more than 21.4 million residential customers in Texas.

Data centers, artificial intelligence and population growth are driving up power demand in Texas, straining the ERCOT grid. In January, ERCOT laid out a nearly $33 billion plan to boost power transmission capabilities in its service area.
The new "Arch of Time" in Houston’s East End will generate 400,000 kilowatt-hours of power annually. Photo courtesy Land Art Generator Initiative.

Houston unveils details for first-of-its-kind art installation that generates clean energy

power of art

Local and state leaders shared updated plans this month on a first-of-its-kind structure that uses art to generate solar energy.

Slated to be located at Mason Park in Houston’s East End, the new "Arch of Time" is a freestanding sundial art installation that will generate 400,000 kilowatt-hours of power per year using 60,000 solar photovoltaic cells on its south-facing exterior.

The project will be part of a larger pavilion at the park and is being led by the renewable energy organization Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI). Architect Riccardo Mariano will design the space. It will be funded by donations and cost $20 million, organizers say.

The project, originally known as "Arco del Tiempo," was announced in 2023. At the time, the city shared the installation would be installed at Guadalupe Plaza Park in 2024.

The project's latest update was announced during Houston City Hall’s Earth Day 2025, where organizers described it as "a monument to Houston's past, present, and future leadership as the energy capital of the world."

The 100-foot structure will also serve as a 25,000-square-foot shaded area, or microclimate, during hot days. It will also feature a stage performance space and a power hub for emergencies. Due to the artwork's north opening and south narrowing, it is also expected to help channel the breezes, according to LAGI.

The organization says it is also expected to generate enough power to fuel all of Mason Park.

“Mason Park will soon, perhaps become the first major park in the country that is powered entirely by the sun,” Houston City Council Member Joaquin Martinez said at the news conference. “The economic benefits are clear.”

Former Houston Park and Recreation director Joe Turner selected the East End park as the location of the arch and believes it could be used as a STEM tool for students.

“All the STEM education that can come from the way we use the solar collectors, the way it has a water collection system that's going to collect the runoff water, there's so much we can do to teach kids STEM,” said in a Houston Park and Recreation Department video.

The project is about two years away from being completed. LAGI says the Arch of Time will be the “first public art project of its scale to stand as a net-positive contribution to a sustainable climate.”

Texas and California represented 61 percent of the total installed capacity of utility-scale energy storage for solar and wind power in the final three months of last year. Photo via Getty Images

New report shows Texas led the nation in solar and wind storage in Q4 2024

texas on top

When it comes to the storage of solar and wind energy, Texas might be able to swipe the Sunshine State nickname from Florida.

The Lone Star State led all states in the fourth quarter of 2024 with the installation of 1.2 gigawatts’ worth of utility-scale energy storage for solar and wind power, according to the recently released U.S. Energy Storage Monitor. In second place was California, with 875 megawatts’ worth of utility-scale storage installed in the fourth quarter. Together, Texas and California represented 61 percent of the total installed capacity in the final three months of last year.

The American Clean Power Association and Wood Mackenzie, a provider of data and analytics for the energy sector, issued the report.

Utility-scale systems stash large amounts of electricity generated by solar and wind for future use, easing the strain on power grids during periods of peak usage and power outages.

“Energy storage is solidifying its place as a leading solution for strengthening American energy security and grid reliability in a time of historic rising demand for electricity,” Noah Roberts, vice president of energy storage at the clean power organization, said in a statement. “The energy storage industry has quickly scaled to meet the moment, and deliver reliability and cost savings for American communities, serving a critical role [in] firming and balancing low-cost renewables.”

A photo of BP's new solar farm in Texas. Photo via bp.com

Solar farms are booming and putting thousands of hungry sheep to work

Solar Power

On rural Texas farmland, beneath hundreds of rows of solar panels, a troop of stocky sheep rummage through pasture, casually bumping into one another as they remain committed to a single task: chewing grass.

The booming solar industry has found an unlikely mascot in sheep as large-scale solar farms crop up across the U.S. and in the plain fields of Texas. In Milam County, outside Austin, SB Energy operates the fifth-largest solar project in the country, capable of generating 900 megawatts of power across 4,000 acres.

How do they manage all that grass? With the help of about 3,000 sheep, which are better suited than lawnmowers to fit between small crevices and chew away rain or shine.

The proliferation of sheep on solar farms is part of a broader trend — solar grazing — that has exploded alongside the solar industry.

Agrivoltaics, a method using land for both solar energy production and agriculture, is on the rise with more than 60 solar grazing projects in the U.S., according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The American Solar Grazing Association says 27 states engage in the practice.

"The industry tends to rely on gas-powered mowers, which kind of contradicts the purpose of renewables," SB Energy asset manager James Hawkins said.

A sunny opportunity
Putting the animals to work on solar fields also provides some help to the sheep and wool market, which has struggled in recent years. The inventory of sheep and lamb in Texas fell to 655,000 in January 2024, a 4% drop from the previous year, according to the most recent figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Because solar fields use sunny, flat land that is often ideal for livestock grazing, the power plants have been used in coordination with farmers rather than against them.

Sheepherder JR Howard accidentally found himself in the middle of Texas' burgeoning clean energy transition. In 2021, he and his family began contracting with solar farms — sites with hundreds of thousands of solar modules — to use his sheep to eat the grass.

What was once a small business has turned into a full-scale operation with more than 8,000 sheep and 26 employees.

"Just the growth has been kind of crazy for us," said Howard, who named his company Texas Solar Sheep. "It's been great for me and my family."

Following the herd
Some agriculture experts say Howard's success reflects how solar farms have become a boon for some ranchers.

Reid Redden, a sheep farmer and solar vegetation manager in San Angelo, Texas, said a successful sheep business requires agricultural land that has become increasingly scarce.

"Solar grazing is probably the biggest opportunity that the sheep industry had in the United States in several generations," Redden said.

The response to solar grazing has been overwhelmingly positive in rural communities near South Texas solar farms where Redden raises sheep for sites to use, he said.

"I think it softens the blow of the big shock and awe of a big solar farm coming in," Redden said.

Fielding more research
Agrivoltaics itself isn't new. Solar farms are land-intensive and require a lot of space that could be used for food production. Agrivoltaics compensates by allowing the two to coexist, whether growing food or caring for livestock.

There is a lot still unknown about the full effects of solar grazing, said Nuria Gomez-Casanovas, an assistant professor in regenerative system ecology at Texas A&M University.

Not enough studies have been done to know the long-term environmental impacts, such as how viable the soil will be for future agriculture, although Gomez-Casanovas suspects solar grazing may improve sheep productivity because the panels provide shade and can be more cost-efficient than mowing.

"We really have more questions than answers," Gomez-Casanovas said. "There are studies that show that the land productivity is not higher versus solar alone or agriculture alone, so it's context-dependent."

As one of Texas' largest solar sheep operators, Howard has more clients than he can handle. He expects to add about 20 more employees by the end of this year, which would nearly double his current workforce. As for the sheep, he has enough already.

Ad Placement 300x100
Ad Placement 300x600

CultureMap Emails are Awesome

America's only rare earth producer announces $500M agreement with Apple

Digging In

MP Materials, which runs the only American rare earths mine, announced a new $500 million agreement with tech giant Apple on Tuesday to produce more of the powerful magnets used in iPhones as well as other high-tech products like electric vehicles.

This news comes on the heels of last week’s announcement that the U.S. Defense Department agreed to invest $400 million in shares of the Las Vegas-based company. That will make the government the largest shareholder in MP Materials and help increase magnet production.

Despite their name, the 17 rare earth elements aren’t actually rare, but it’s hard to find them in a high enough concentration to make a mine worth the investment.

They are important ingredients in everything from smartphones and submarines to EVs and fighter jets, and it's those military applications that have made rare earths a key concern in ongoing U.S. trade talks. That's because China dominates the market and imposed new limits on exports after President Donald Trump announced his widespread tariffs. When shipments dried up, the two sides sat down in London.

The agreement with Apple will allow MP Materials to further expand its new factory in Texas to use recycled materials to produce the magnets that make iPhones vibrate. The company expects to start producing magnets for GM's electric vehicles later this year and this agreement will let it start producing magnets for Apple in 2027.

The Apple agreement represents a sliver of the company's pledge to invest $500 billion domestically during the Trump administration. And although the deal will provide a significant boost for MP Materials, the agreement with the Defense Department may be even more meaningful.

Neha Mukherjee, a rare earths analyst with Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, said in a research note that the Pentagon's 10-year promise to guarantee a minimum price for the key elements of neodymium and praseodymium will guarantee stable revenue for MP Minerals and protect it from potential price cuts by Chinese producers that are subsidized by their government.

“This is the kind of long-term commitment needed to reshape global rare earth supply chains," Mukherjee said.

Trump has made it a priority to try to reduce American reliance on China for rare earths. His administration is both helping MP Materials and trying to encourage the development of new mines that would take years to come to fruition. China has agreed to issue some permits for rare earth exports but not for military uses, and much uncertainty remains about their supply. The fear is that the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies could lead to a critical shortage of rare earth elements that could disrupt production of a variety of products. MP Materials can't satisfy all of the U.S. demand from its Mountain Pass mine in California’s Mojave Desert.

The deals by MP Materials come as Beijing and Washington have agreed to walk back on their non-tariff measures: China is to grant export permits for rare earth magnets to the U.S., and the U.S. is easing export controls on chip design software and jet engines. The truce is intended to ease tensions and prevent any catastrophic fall-off in bilateral relations, but is unlikely to address fundamental differences as both governments take steps to reduce dependency on each other.

Houston energy tech platform Molecule closes series B funding

energy software

Houston-based energy trading risk management (ETRM) software company Molecule has completed a successful series B round for an undisclosed amount, according to a July 16 release from the company.

The raise was led by Sundance Growth, a California-based software growth equity firm.

Sameer Soleja, founder and CEO of Molecule, said in the release that the funding will allow the company to "double down on product innovation, grow our team, and reach even more markets."

Molecule closed a $12 million Series A round in 2021, led by Houston-based Mercury Fund, and has since seen significant growth. The company, which was founded in 2012, has expanded its customer base across the U.S., U.K., Europe, Canada and South America, according to the release.

Additionally, it has launched two new modules of its software platform. Its Hive module, which debuted in 2022, enables clients to manage their energy portfolio and renewable credits together in one scalable platform. It also introduced Elektra, an add-on for the power market to its platform, which allows for complex power market trading.

"Four years ago, we committed to becoming the leading platform for energy trading," Soleja said in the release. "Today, our customers are managing complex power and renewable portfolios across multiple jurisdictions, all within Molecule.”

Molecule is also known for its data-as-a-lake platform, Bigbang, which enables energy ETRM and commodities trading and risk management (CTRM) customers to automatically import trade data from Molecule and then merge it with various sources to conduct queries and analysis.

“Molecule is doing something very few companies in energy tech have done: combining mission-critical depth with cloud-native, scalable technology,” Christian Stewart, Sundance Growth managing director, added in the statement. “Sameer and his team have built a platform that’s not only powerful, but user-friendly—a rare combination in enterprise software. We’re thrilled to partner with Molecule as they continue to grow and transform the energy trading and risk management market.”