RWE Inks Texas-Centered Deals with GE Vernova, Meta Platforms

German-headquartered energy company RWE AG (Essen) is cementing its place in the Texas power scene with projects that will increase the company’s renewable power generation. In late March, RWE signed deals with Meta Platforms Incorporated (NASDAQ:META) (Menlo Park, California) for the offtake of the power from a Texas solar facility and GE Vernova (NYSE:GEV) (Cambridge, Massachusetts) to obtain turbines for two Texas wind projects.

RWE’s most recent power purchase agreement (PPA) with Meta represents the third deal between the companies within the past six months. In August, Meta signed PPAs for 100% of the power from RWE solar farms in Louisiana and Illinois. This most recent PPA between the two companies is for all of the power from the planned 200-megawatt (MW) Waterloo solar project in Bastrop County, Texas. The deal brings Meta’s total U.S. power offtake amount from RWE renewable energy facilities to 574 MW, in line with Meta’s goals to source power from emissions-free sources when possible.

Construction on the Waterloo project is expected to begin later this year, and the site eventually could house a battery energy storage system (BESS). The project is expected to last about a year and a half. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can learn more by viewing the project report.

Another deal places RWE not in the position of seller, but rather of purchaser. RWE has signed an agreement to purchase 109 of GE Vernova’s U.S.-made 2.82-MW turbines. The turbines will be used in a repower project and a grassroot facility in Texas.

Work already is underway at RWE’s Forest Creek solar farm near Big Spring that will extend the operation’s life by 30 years. Forest Creek was commissioned in 2006, and the turbines have become worn and outdated. To remedy this, RWE will perform a repower operation at the windfarm by replacing the old turbines with 45 new GE Vernova turbines on fresh foundations. The original towers, turbines and other gear, manufactured by Siemens (Berlin, Germany), are being decommissioned, and the new turbines are expected to be online by the end of this year, bringing more than 126 MW of energy from updated sources. Subscribers can click here to learn more about the project.

GE Vernova reported that it received orders in 2024 to repower more than 1 gigawatt of wind turbines in the U.S.

Construction on RWE’s newest Texas windfarm, the Honey Mesquite facility in Glasscock County in West Texas, is expected to kick off later this year and be completed in late 2026. The facility will use 64 of the GE Vernova turbines to achieve peak generation of about 180 MW. Subscribers can click here for more details of the project.

At least some of the turbine components will be manufactured in Pensacola, Florida, according to GE Vernova. Subscribers can click here for the related plant profile.

RWE says it has invested $9 billion in Texas since the Forest Creek facility was built nearly 20 years ago.