Repsol Renewables’s Frye Solar

Leveraging its roots in the oil and gas industry, Texas is becoming a renewable energy powerhouse thanks to massive projects like Frye

Kress, Texas — Long famous for oil and gas, Texas is continuing to cement its position as one of the leading energy producers in the world, even in the age of renewable power.

And it’s happening because of – not in spite of – the American state’s history in oil and gas.

Texas added more solar power capacity and produced more wind power in 2023 than any other state in the US by far. California continues to produce more solar power in gross terms, but “we are getting close,” said Lyman Wilkes, senior asset manager for Repsol’s renewables unit Repsol Renewables based in Houston.

He cited the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT’s, deregulated market and unbureaucratic, agile approach to connecting projects to the grid as a key reason for the Texas’s green energy boom.

An EIP portfolio company since 2022, Repsol Renewables recently opened Frye Solar here, one of the largest solar power projects ever in Texas. Set along fields growing cotton and corn and where cows graze in northwest Texas, Frye includes nearly 1 million double-sided panels and a mechanism to angle them to catch the most sunlight at any time.

The company is set to add two more projects – with a combined 1.3 gigawatts – in the next two years for a total of 2.1 gigawatts in Texas, a scale that puts it in a similar league as large-scale technologies like nuclear albeit without the stable baseload generation. These projects can also come to life in about two years, versus commissioning projects for nuclear projects that can take 10 years or more.

Individual panels
960,000
Covered space
3,800 acres
Industrial partner

The power plant also has some state-of-the-art equipment that has a longer track record. About 1,500 sheep and a few sheepdogs hired from a neighboring rancher are working full-time to keep the grass around the panels low.

They are also helping feed the massive demand for power coming from the booming data center industry. A data center is located on site at a wind farm down the road. 

With the continued buildout in Texas from players like Repsol, the state expects to get most of its power from renewables by next year. By 2025, ERCOT expects wind and solar generation to reach 189 million megawatt hours, which would likely surpass natural gas as the system’s largest generation resource.

But natural gas is not going away any time soon. Precisely because the flexible and low-carbon fuel is abundantly available in Texas, a renewables-heavy mix and the stochastic generation it brings work well here.

Like Texas, Repsol has leveraged its roots in the oil and gas industry to plant its flag as a leader in decarbonized energy. The company became the first oil and gas major to commit to carbon neutrality by 2050.

“Frye Solar is a great example where we combined Repsol’s global capabilities with an experienced local team to build and operate a project that contributes meaningfully to our net zero goals”

says Caton Fenz CEO Repsol Renewables North America.

“Frye Solar is a great example where we combined Repsol’s global capabilities with an experienced local team to build and operate a project that contributes meaningfully to our net zero goals,” says Caton Fenz, CEO Repsol Renewables North America.

Another important factor: the abundant lands in Texas, often flat plains, where strong winds blow and bright sun shines. That means renewable energy works especially well here and the decision to invest and build is much easier to make.

“Nobody is doing this solely for the environment,” said Daniel Schoolcraft, Repsol’s supervisor for the Frye Solar plant. “Renewable companies are able to produce clean energy and still turn a profit.”

Repsol Renewables has been an EIP portfolio company since 2022. Read more about the company here

Tags
  • Business Strategy |
  • CEO Insights |
  • CEO's Guide to Sustainability |
  • Climate Change |
  • Consumer Products |
  • Energy & Natural Resources |
  • Financial Services |
  • Strategy |
  • Sustainability |
  • Transformation
Back to news