Panamint\u2019s clean energy project will be among the largest in the nation \u2014 and, the developer claims, the biggest solar array ever built at a\u00a0brownfield site in North America.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe deploying new capacity at existing energy sites is the clearest way to benefit communities, ratepayers, and the environment alike,\u201d said Apolka Totth, CEO of Panamint, a\u00a0Nevada-based investment firm.<\/p>\n
The giant installation will further boost Texas\u2019 thriving solar sector, which this year is expected to generate more electricity than coal<\/a> in the Lone Star State. The renewable resource is helping meet the state\u2019s energy demand from data centers, manufacturing facilities, and rising air-conditioning use<\/a> amid more frequent and extreme hot weather.<\/p>\n Panamint, which is backed by the private equity firm KKR, launched in 2019 with the goals of squeezing more life out of existing fossil-fuel infrastructure while building lower-emission facilities on the same sites. In 2023, Panamint acquired the 310-MW Twin Oaks coal plant and Calvert mine \u200b\u201cwith the express intention of leveraging the site\u2019s existing characteristics to massively and rapidly expand generating capability at the lowest possible cost,\u201d Totth said by\u00a0email.\u00a0<\/p>\n Work has started on the first phase of the solar farm, a\u00a0491-MW section that is set to go online in August 2028. Construction will begin in December on the remaining 658\u00a0MW, which could start producing power in August 2029.<\/p>\n The 10,000-acre Big Rooter site will also include 1.6\u00a0gigawatt-hours of battery storage and 20\u00a0miles of new extra-high-voltage transmission lines. The investment firm says it also has the infrastructure and natural gas access needed to build at least 800\u00a0MW of gas-fired generation, either for the grid or customers like data center developers.<\/p>\n \u201cBig Rooter is a\u00a0landmark project that reflects the scale of investment being made in America\u2019s energy future,\u201d George Hershman, CEO of Solv Energy<\/a>, said in a\u00a0news release. The contractor is building the site\u2019s solar array, substation, and transmission infrastructure.<\/p>\n Turning coal mines into clean energy\u00a0<\/p>\n Big Rooter\u2019s pairing with active coal operations makes it unique within the nation\u2019s small but growing coal-to-solar subsector, which has mainly focused on putting panels on former mine lands and retired industrial sites.<\/p>\n The largest of these projects is the 186-MW Tilden Solar Project in southern Illinois, followed by the 111-MW Martin County Solar Project in eastern Kentucky, which both went online last year atop abandoned coal\u00a0mines.<\/p>\n In Louisiana, the 240-MW Dolet Hills Solar Project is now being built on a\u00a0former coal mine property. And the developer BrightNight<\/a> is advancing the Starfire installation on remediated mine land in Kentucky.<\/p>\n In 2023, when BrightNight announced the Appalachian project, electric truck startup Rivian<\/a> signed on as the anchor customer, with a\u00a0100-MW power purchase agreement. Starfire was initially envisioned<\/a> as a\u00a0roughly 800-MW project, but is now on track for 410\u00a0MW, with construction slated for late 2027 and planned operations in\u00a02030.<\/p>\n \u201cEarlier descriptions of a\u00a0larger project reflected a\u00a0broader long-term vision for the site, but as development has progressed, BrightNight has focused on the configuration that best aligns with current interconnection, permitting, site, and customer considerations,\u201d a\u00a0BrightNight spokesperson said by email. \u200b\u201cWe remain very enthusiastic about Starfire and its importance as a\u00a0major redevelopment project on former coal mining land in Eastern Kentucky.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Construction is underway on a $1.7 billion solar and battery storage project in Texas that will turn existing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":391718,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-391717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/391718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n The Calvert mine is a 19-million-ton surface lignite mine adjacent to the Twin Oaks coal plant. (Panamint Capital)<\/p>\n
\n The 111-MW Martin County Solar Project in eastern Kentucky will supply power for Toyota\u2019s automaking operations in the state. (Toyota<\/a>)<\/p>\n
![\"Mining](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Rectangle-136-6.jpg\"\/)
![\"Overhead](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/MartinCo-1500x900.jpeg\"\/)