Apex Clean Energy Signs 144MW Texas Solar PPA with Meta, Set to Begin Operation in 2027

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 16, Apex Clean Energy announced the signing of a power purchase agreement with Meta for the Starling Solar project in Texas. The project is located in Gonzales County and has an installed capacity of 144MW. Under the agreement, Meta will receive all environmental attributes associated with the project's electricity, including all renewable energy certificates. The project is scheduled to begin commercial operation in 2027.

Once completed, Starling Solar will add generating capacity to the Texas ERCOT grid. Apex stated that the project is already positioned for grid connection and construction advancement, and will be developed to meet the demand for new clean power from large electricity customers. This collaboration is also the 7th project between Apex and Meta, with their existing joint projects spanning Texas, Virginia, Illinois, Kansas, and Iowa, totaling approximately 1.2GW of capacity.

According to project estimates published by Apex, Starling Solar is expected to generate approximately $27 million in tax revenue for the local area over its lifecycle, of which about $15.6 million will go to the local school system; landowners are expected to receive more than $26.3 million in payments. The construction phase is expected to create approximately 400 to 450 jobs, and nearly $400,000 is planned to be provided to local community organizations and ecological conservation projects.

Apex and Meta have previously collaborated on wind and solar projects across multiple U.S. states. In 2019, the two parties signed a power purchase agreement for the 200MW Aviator Wind East wind project in Texas, and in 2023 they reached an environmental attributes purchase agreement for the 195MW Angelo Solar project in Texas. With the addition of the 144MW Starling Solar project, the two parties' collaboration capacity has further expanded.

Regarding the project implementation timeline, Apex officially plans to begin commercial operation in 2027; ERCOT's August grid interconnection queue information shows that the project's expected commercial operation date is January 28, 2028, and it has currently completed the security screening study and entered the full interconnection study phase. The final grid connection and commissioning timeline remains subject to the project's subsequent construction and grid access progress.