OCI Solar Power’s second Texas solar farm, Alamo 2, is now generating power northeast of Downtown San Antonio, the company said on March 12.
Alamo 2 is the second phase of the 400 MW of total capacity that OCI Solar Power is developing for CPS Energy as part of a 25-year power purchase agreement. OCI Solar Power developed the 4.4-MW solar farm in collaboration with the San Antonio River Authority. The authority owns the 45 acres of land used for the solar farm near the organization’s Upper Martinez waste water treatment plant.
“Alamo 2 will be a great neighbor to San Antonio and Converse residents,” said OCI Solar Power President and CEO Tony Dorazio. “Solar farms are an all-around win because of their passive nature, but positive environmental impacts.”
“Using the Upper Martinez Wastewater Treatment Plant land for a solar farm is a sustainable use for the property while providing another example of the synergy created when public services unite for the greater community benefit,” said SARA General Manager Suzanne Scott. “We look forward to similar future partnership opportunities.”
Additional phases of the 400-MW project are in various stages of development. The 41-MW Alamo 1 solar farm has been generating power on the city’s South Side since December. Alamo 3 will begin construction in San Antonio this year, and Alamo 4 is a 39-MW site currently under construction in Brackettville, Texas. Once complete in 2016, the entire OCI project will power 10% of San Antonio homes. CPS Energy currently has 85 MW of solar power in commercial operation.
“The Alamo 2 solar farm moves us another step closer to making clean, carbon-free energy an even larger part of our diversified generation portfolio,” said Cris Eugster, CPS Energy Chief Generation and Strategy Officer. “This project also builds on our model of co-locating solar farms with waste water facilities.”
In 2012, CPS Energy and San Antonio Water System combined forces at the Dos Rios Water Recycling Center. The 20-MW Sinkin Centennial Solar Farm was built on 200 acres of SAWS property at the center.
