Representatives from OCI Holdings and Arava Power take part in a groundbreaking ceremony for the SunRoper solar project in Wharton County, Texas, on Wednesday. Photo by OCI Holdings
SEOUL, Sept. 3 (UPI) — South Korea’s OCI Holdings said Thursday that its U.S. subsidiary, OCI Energy, has teamed up with Israeli renewable energy developer Arava Power to build a 260-megawatt solar power project in Texas.
OCI Energy began construction Wednesday on the SunRoper solar project in Wharton County, Texas, amid growing demand for electricity from artificial intelligence data centers.
Spanning roughly 1,714 acres, the project is expected to begin commercial operations in 2027 and generate enough electricity to power 60,000 households. OCI Energy and Arava Power each own a 50% interest in the project, according to OCI.
The two companies secured financing for the project after signing a long-term power purchase agreement with a Fortune 100 company in February. The identity of the power purchaser has not been disclosed.
OCI Holdings Chairman Lee Woo-hyun joined OCI Energy President Sabah Bayatli and Arava Power CEO Ilan Zidkony at the groundbreaking ceremony.
“Solar demand in the United States is accelerating as AI data centers drive up power consumption,” Chairman Lee said in a statement. “Project SunRoper reflects our shift from a develop-and-sell model toward direct operation, which opens up new, recurring revenue streams.”
OCI Energy has been active in Texas’ utility-scale solar market since 2012, developing and selling projects with a combined capacity of around 2 gigawatts. In particular, it has increased investments over the past two years in line with mounting power demand from AI data centers.
The share price of OCI Holdings declined 5.6% on the Seoul bourse on Thursday, while the benchmark KOSPI edged up 0.26%.