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Texas Adds Another Huge Solar Farm As ERCOT Grid Demand Soars

(Tuesday June 02, 2026 @03:00AM (BeauHD) from the supply-and-demand dept.)


Texas is [1]adding another large solar project as ERCOT electricity demand rises. According to Electrek, Vesper Energy has [2]secured $236 million in financing for its 201 MW Nazareth Solar farm in Swisher County, which will be capable of generating enough electricity for about 53,000 homes. The project is expected to begin construction in June 2026 and come online in fall 2027. From the report:

> Nazareth Solar will sit on more than 2,400 acres of private land and generate enough electricity to power around 53,000 homes annually. The project will neighbor Vesper's Hornet Solar (pictured above), another large solar farm the company developed. ERCOT faces growing demand from population growth, industrial expansion, and power-hungry data centers. And despite political attacks on renewables, solar continues getting built in this red state because it's one of the fastest and cheapest ways to add new electricity to the grid.

>

> Vesper says the project will bring new tax revenue to local schools, infrastructure, and emergency services, along with construction jobs and long-term operations roles. Participating landowners are also expected to receive long-term lease income from the solar farm.



[1] https://electrek.co/2026/06/01/texas-adds-another-huge-solar-farm-ercot-grid-demand-soars/

[2] https://finance.yahoo.com/sectors/energy/articles/vesper-energy-closes-236-million-140000953.html


Damn republicans and their woke solar (Score:3)

by thegarbz ( 1787294 )

You know Trump is on the wrong side of an argument when...

Too bad (Score:2)

by Bahbus ( 1180627 )

Adding more solar doesn't make them any more competent at managing the grid.

that is a lot of land if my calcs are correct (Score:2)

by gtall ( 79522 )

2,400 acres x (43,560 square feet / acre) = 104,544,000 square feet

104,544,000 square feet / (5280 feet / mile) = 19,800 square miles

sqrt(19,800 square miles) * sqrt(19,800 square miles) = 140.71247279 x 140.71247279

So that's a block 140.71247279 miles on a side (someone recheck my math)

Texas has 268,596 square miles, so 268,596 square miles / 19,800 square miles = 0.07371666 of Texas land mass, so roughly 7 percent of Texas land mass.

I'm dubious. Of course the project will only sit on that land, not that l

Re: (Score:2)

by Amadodd ( 620353 )

> (someone recheck my math)

(Texas = 268,596 square miles = 172 million acres) / 2400 acres = 0.0014%

Re:that is a lot of land if my calcs are correct (Score:4, Informative)

by evanh ( 627108 )

You've got a big error in the translation from square feet to square miles. You need to square the 5280 first, before doing the divide. Resulting in 3.75 sq.miles.

Even if it was 19,800 sq.miles, the panels are not flat on the ground. They are raised and angled, allowing light to reach the ground. Grass still grows. Evaporation is reduced, which is often beneficial to grass. Animals can still graze amongst the panels.

Re: (Score:2)

by ras ( 84108 )

It is big'ish - 4GWh on an average day, or 500MW when the sun is shining, assuming 40% panel coverage. But no, it's not 7%. More like 0.014%. And the sheep or whatever they graze under it will be very happy - lots of shade, better grass.

As for your arithmetic - 2,400 acres is 3.75 sq mile. Or it's about 100 hectares, or 10 sq kilometres, or 10,000,000 sq meters. This is why the rest of the world is using metric. Imperial units make as much sense in todays world as "Drill, Baby, Drill".

Delicious (Score:2)

by spaceman375 ( 780812 )

I savor the irony. Makes me feel like parking a small EV in front of a gas pump. (Don't live in Texas, don't own an EV, and wouldn't do that to a gas station owner, but still enjoy the irony.)

Not every question deserves an answer.