more power

New agreement to bring more energy in Texas online

The three plants are all connected to ERCOT, with two of them being in Houston and its surrounding areas. Photo via totalenergies.com

Houston, we have some (more) power. TotalEnergies has signed an agreement with TexGen to acquire $635 million three gas-fired power plants with a total capacity of 1.5 GW in Texas.

The three plants are all connected to ERCOT, with two of them being in Houston and its surrounding areas. The transaction is subject to approval by relevant authorities.

Houston’s plants will include a La Porte site with a 150 MW OCGT, southeast of Houston, and south of Houston’s Colorado Bend I plant with a 530 MW CCGT and a 74 MW open-cycle gas turbine (OCGT). The two added plants may provide flexibility and added insurance to meet the high demands of the summer heat in Texas. The third plant will be Wolf Hollow I plant with a 745 MW combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant outside of Dallas.

According to TotalEnergies, the locations of the plants will help serve the massive energy demand of the large cities and will help to offset the “intermittency of renewable power production,” as well as “the importance of the plants was highlighted during weather events that impacted power generation from renewable assets in Texas,” or was met with high demands.

The deal includes 1.5 GW additional flexible production capacity acquired by TotalEnergies that will complement its renewable capacity in Texas , which is currently 2 GW gross installed, 2 GW under construction and more than 3 GW under development .

“"We are delighted with the agreement signed with TexGen to acquire 1.5 GW of CCGT in ERCOT, “said Stephane Michel, President Gas Renewables & Power at TotalEnergies in a news release. “After the signing of several corporate PPA over the last couple of years and the recent start-up of the utility-scale Myrtle solar plant, this deal is a major milestone for our Integrated Power strategy in the ERCOT market. These plants will enable us to complement our renewable assets, intermittent by nature, provide our customers with firm power, and take advantage of the volatility of electricity prices.

"This acquisition will contribute positively to our profitability target of 12% ROACE by 2028 for our Integrated Power business segment,” Michel continues.

The Myrtle solar plant opened last month just outside of Houston.

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A View From HETI

Shell has entered a 15-year agreement to be the first offtaker to receive electrons from Fervo Energy's flagship geothermal development in Beaver County, Utah, known as Cape Station. Photo via fervoenergy.com

Beginning in 2026, Shell will be able to apply 31 megawatts of 24/7 carbon-free geothermal power to its customers thanks to a new 15-year power purchase agreement with Houston next-gen geothermal development company Fervo Energy.

“This agreement demonstrates that Fervo is stepping up to meet the moment,” Dawn Owens, VP, Head of Development & Commercial Markets at Fervo, said in a news release.

Shell will become the first offtaker to receive electrons from Fervo's flagship geothermal development in Beaver County, Utah’s Phase I of Cape Station. Cape Station is currently one of the world’s largest enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) developments, and the station will begin to deliver electricity to the grid in 2026.

Cape Station will increase from 400 MW to 500 MW, which is considered by the company a major accomplishment due to recent breakthroughs in Fervo’s field development strategy and well design. Fervo is now able to generate more megawatts per well by optimizing well spacing using fiber optic sensing, increasing casing diameter and implementing staggered bench development. This can allow for a 100 MW capacity increase without the need for additional drilling, according to the company.

With the addition of the new Shell deal, all 500 MW of capacity from Fervo’s Cape Station are now fully contracted. The deal also includes existing agreements, like Fervo’s PPAs with Southern California Edison and an expanded deal with Clean Power Alliance that adds 18 MW of carbon-free geothermal energy to the company’s existing PPA with Fervo.

“As customers seek out 24/7 carbon-free energy, geothermal is clearly an essential part of the solution,” Owens said in the release.

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