Press release

TotalEnergies Starts Up its Largest Utility-Scale Solar Farms with Batteries in the United States

Houston/Paris, September 30th 2024 – TotalEnergies has started commercial operations of Danish Fields and Cottonwood, two utility-scale solar farms with integrated battery storage located in southeast Texas. These new projects, with a combined capacity of 1.2 GW, are part of a portfolio of renewable assets totaling 4 GW in operation or under construction in Texas.

Danish Fields is TotalEnergies’ largest solar farm in the United States, with a capacity of 720 MWp and 1.4 million ground-mounted photovoltaic panels. Danish Fields also features a 225 MWh battery storage system supplied by Saft, the battery subsidiary of TotalEnergies.

70% of Danish’s solar capacity has been contracted through long-term Corporate Power Purchase Agreements (CPPAs) signed with industry players like Saint-Gobain, featuring an upside sharing mechanism indexed on merchant price.

The remaining 30% will support the decarbonization of TotalEnergies’ industrial plants in the U.S. Gulf Coast region. Along with Myrtle Solar which was commissioned in 2023 and the under-construction Hill 1 solar farm, these three projects will cover the electricity consumption of TotalEnergies’ industrial sites in Port Arthur and La Porte in Texas, and Carville in Louisiana.

Cottonwood has a capacity of 455 MWp featuring over 847,000 ground-mounted photovoltaic panels. The site will also feature 225 MWh of battery storage supplied by Saft, scheduled for commissioning in 2025. Cottonwood’s electricity production is contracted under long-term PPAs indexed to merchant prices through an upside-sharing mechanism with LyondellBasell and Saint-Gobain, to support their decarbonization efforts.

“The start-ups of Danish Fields and Cottonwood in the fast-growing ERCOT market showcase TotalEnergies’ ability to deliver competitive renewable electricity to support our clients’ decarbonization goals, as well as our own. Thanks to these projects, we are delighted to take another step in delivering our strategy across the entire value chain, from power generation to customer delivery, in order to achieve our profitability target of 12% ROACE in our Integrated Power business”, said Olivier Jouny, Senior Vice President, Renewables at TotalEnergies.

Danish Fields, Cottonwood and Myrtle were originally developed by joint ventures between SunChase Power and Eolian, L.P. (Eolian) starting back in 2017. TotalEnergies purchased Danish Fields and Myrtle in 2021 and Cottonwood in 2022 from these joint ventures between SunChase and Eolian.

“We are pleased to see these projects and TotalEnergies reach this exciting milestone,” said Heather Otten, Co-Founder and Principal of SunChase Power. “This milestone would not have been possible without the tremendous support of the landowners and the local communities.”

“The 720 MWp Danish Fields and 455MWp Cottonwood solar projects epitomize how to provide local solutions at global scale that can quickly and cost-effectively decarbonize electricity supplies in the locations that market signals indicate have the highest value for consumers,” said Aaron Zubaty, CEO of Eolian.

solar farms in texas

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TotalEnergies and electricity in the U.S.

TotalEnergies is one of the top renewable energy players in the United States, with a portfolio of large-scale solar, storage, onsite B2B solar distributed generation, onshore and offshore wind projects. The Company aims to achieve a combined gross capacity of 10 GW by 2025 and more than 25 GW by 2030. TotalEnergies has also added 1.5 GW of flexible power production capacity with the acquisition of three gas-fired power plants in Texas.

TotalEnergies and electricity

As part of its ambition to get to net zero by 2050, TotalEnergies is building a world class cost-competitive portfolio combining renewables (solar, onshore and offshore wind) and flexible assets (CCGT, storage) to deliver clean firm power to its customers. Mid-2024, TotalEnergies’ gross renewable electricity generation installed capacity was 24 GW. TotalEnergies will continue to expand this business to reach 35 GW in 2025 and more than 100 TWh of net electricity production by 2030.

About TotalEnergies

TotalEnergies is a global integrated energy company that produces and markets energies: oil and biofuels, natural gas and green gases, renewables and electricity. Our more than 100,000 employees are committed to provide as many people as possible with energy that is more reliable, more affordable and more sustainable. Active in about 120 countries, TotalEnergies places sustainability at the heart of its strategy, its projects and its operations.

About Eolian, L.P.
Eolian operates a growing portfolio of battery energy storage projects and develops and invests in renewable energy and clean molecule projects across the US. For over 20 years, Eolian's founding management has worked together to build the assets at the core of the company, creating unique and proprietary structures that have directly funded the development of 26 GW of successfully operating energy storage, solar, and wind-generating capacity across the country. Eolian is owned by its employees and funds are managed by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a leading infrastructure investor. For more information, follow Eolian on LinkedIn or visit www.eolianenergy.com.

About SunChase Power
Since its founding in 2015, SunChase Power developed a utility scale renewable energy portfolio with more than 11.5 GW of solar and 3 GW of battery storage projects located in MISO South, ERCOT and SPP, including over 5 GW of solar and 675 MW of storage that are currently operating or under construction. Please visit sunchasepower.com for more information about SunChase.

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Cautionary Note
The terms “TotalEnergies”, “TotalEnergies company” or “Company” in this document are used to designate TotalEnergies SE and the consolidated entities that are directly or indirectly controlled by TotalEnergies SE. Likewise, the words “we”, “us” and “our” may also be used to refer to these entities or to their employees. The entities in which TotalEnergies SE directly or indirectly owns a shareholding are separate legal entities. TotalEnergies SE has no liability for the acts or omissions of these entities. This document may contain forward-looking information and statements that are based on a number of economic data and assumptions made in a given economic, competitive and regulatory environment. They may prove to be inaccurate in the future and are subject to a number of risk factors. Neither TotalEnergies SE nor any of its subsidiaries assumes any obligation to update publicly any forward-looking information or statement, objectives or trends contained in this document whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Information concerning risk factors, that may affect TotalEnergies’ financial results or activities is provided in the most recent Registration Document, the French-language version of which is filed by TotalEnergies SE with the French securities regulator Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), and in the Form 20-F filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Published on 30/09/2024
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