The decision by publicly owned utility Austin Energy to commission 150 MW of solar power in West Texas could signal a rush by developers after the company's general manager declared solar had reached cost competitiveness across most of the state.
"Solar power has reached a price that is competitive in the ERCOT market," said Austin Energy's Larry Weis, referring to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas that regulates the supply of 85% of the state's electricity.
Austin Energy, a department of the city of Austin, Texas, will pay for 150 MW under a 20-year PPA with developer Recurrent Energy, which is developing what is claimed will be the largest single-site solar project in the state and which is due to be completed in 2016.
The project will fulfil a sizeable chunk of Austin Energy's commitment to secure 200 MW of power from renewables by 2020.
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