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Houston companies team up on $700M floating solar projects in Texas

Two Houston companies plan to develop 500 megawatts of floating solar installations in Texas by the end of the decade. Photo via Getty Images.

Diamond Infrastructure Solutions has given Third Pillar Solar exclusive rights to access Diamond’s Texas reservoirs for the possible launch of utility-scale floating solar installations. Both companies are based in the Houston area.

The potential investment in the floating solar project exceeds $700 million, and the project is expected to generate up to 500 megawatts of solar energy.

“Our agreement with Third Pillar marks a bold step forward in how we think about infrastructure and sustainability. By transforming underutilized water surfaces into clean energy assets, Diamond is advancing its commitment to innovation while delivering long-term value,” Ed Noack, CEO of Diamond Infrastructure Solutions, said in the release.

Dow Chemical Co. and a fund directed by Macquarie Asset Management announced the formation of Diamond in 2024. Dow holds a majority stake in Diamond, which owns Gulf Coast infrastructure used by Dow and other industrial customers at five locations in Texas and Louisiana.

The solar installations are scheduled to be built and in operation by the end of the decade.

The agreement between Diamond and Three Pillar “demonstrates the growing appetite for utility-scale energy solutions and highlights how floating solar can enhance and transform the value of existing infrastructure, all while providing cost-competitive energy, preserving agricultural land, reducing evaporation losses, and existing out of public view,” Jaimeet Gulati, CEO of Third Pillar, added in the realease.

Founded in 2022 and majority-owned by renewable energy investor Glentra Capital, Third Pillar develops, owns and operates floating photovoltaic solar installations. The installations are designed to float in places such as wastewater lagoons, reclaimed sand and gravel pits and industrial reservoirs. Third Pillar’s development pipeline contains more than 60 projects.

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A View From HETI

Sage Geosystems has selected a site for its next major geothermal facility. Photo via sagegeosystems.com

Sage Geosystems, a Houston-based developer of geothermal power systems, has chosen a site in Nevada for its commercial-scale Project Vector facility.

The company’s two-well enhanced geothermal system (EGS) will deliver around-the-clock geothermal heat to Ormat Technologies’ Blue Mountain geothermal power plant in Winnemucca, Nevada.

The startup expects to begin drilling the first well later this year, with the first electricity to be generated in 2027 and full-scale production to start in 2028.

In the Nevada system, fluid will circulate through an engineered subsurface reservoir, absorb heat from the surrounding rock and return heat to the surface. The heat will be delivered to the Blue Mountain plant for conversion into electricity.

Project Vector builds on the performance of Sage’s SMECI facility in South Texas. That facility’s results, combined with Sage’s digital twin platform, will be used to shape to the design and development of Project Vector.

Project Vector supports Sage’s growing commercial pipeline, including a 150-megawatt geothermal power agreement with Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.

“Blue Mountain is an ideal location for Sage to take the next step in continuing to commercialize our proprietary EGS approach,” Jason Peart, chief operating officer at Sage, said in a release. “By delivering geothermal heat into an existing power plant, Project Vector can demonstrate the model for bringing firm, 24/7 geothermal power to market at scale.”

Project Vector extends Sage’s relationship with Ormat.

In August 2025, Sage and Ormat agreed to accelerate commercialization of Sage’s geothermal technology at an Ormat power plant. This January, Ormat co-led Sage’s $97 million Series B funding round.

Sage, founded in 2020, has raised about $159 million across three funding rounds.

As the startup ramps up its ESG platform, Sage is targeting data centers as customers, among other large-scale users of electricity.

“The energy needs are huge, and they need it now,” CEO Cindy Taff said on Data Center Frontiers’ podcast. “They can’t depend on the grid anymore.”

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