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TX — Power Infrastructure Updated 2026-01-08

Texas

ERCOT Natural Gas Nuclear Solar Wind Storage Data Center PPAs Queue Bottlenecks Transmission Constraints

Overview

Texas is home to ERCOT, the state’s independent grid operator, and faces a dramatic surge in power demand driven by data centers, industrial load, and population growth. ERCOT forecasts 2030 summer peak demand above 150 GW, including roughly 50 GW of large-load growth.[8] The state is responding with over 5 GW of new natural gas generation, hundreds of megawatts of solar and wind projects backed by tech PPAs, and the first extra-high-voltage (765 kV) transmission lines in ERCOT’s history to move power from resource-rich regions to load centers.

Generation Projects

Natural Gas

Texas is building gigawatt-scale combined-cycle plants to meet near-term load growth.

  • CPV Basin Ranch Energy Center (Ward County): 1,350 MW combined-cycle plant with GE 7HA.03 turbines and a carbon capture option. EPC notice to proceed issued in October 2025, with construction expected to start in fall 2025 and completion in 2028.[1]
  • NRG/GE Vernova/Kiewit venture: A February 2025 partnership to advance four combined-cycle projects totaling over 5 GW across ERCOT and PJM. The first 1.2 GW is targeted for commercial operation in 2029, with the venture explicitly citing data center and GenAI load growth.[2]

Nuclear

Advanced nuclear is moving from concept to permitting in Texas.

  • Dow/X-energy advanced nuclear project (Seadrift): Dow and X-energy submitted a construction permit application to the NRC in March 2025 for an advanced nuclear plant at Dow’s Seadrift industrial site. While aimed at industrial power, the NRC filing marks a real permitting milestone for advanced nuclear in Texas.[3]

Solar

Large-scale solar projects are being built under long-term contracts with tech companies.

  • ENGIE Chillingham Solar (Bell County): 350 MW project north of Austin, with Google signing a 90 MW PPA for output. ENGIE calls it its largest U.S. solar project, with operations expected to start later in 2024.[4]
  • RWE Waterloo Solar (Bastrop County): 200 MW solar project with Meta purchasing 100% of output under a long-term PPA tied to regional operations and data center capacity. Construction is set to begin in late 2025.[5]

Wind

Texas leads the nation in wind capacity, with gigawatt-scale projects coming online and a massive pipeline under study.

  • Amazon Wind Farm Texas - Great Prairie (Hansford County): Over 1,000 MW of wind capacity that recently began operations. Amazon describes it as its largest renewable project to date, developed by NextEra.[6]
  • ERCOT’s December 2025 generator interconnection report shows 46.2 GW of wind projects under study, signaling continued large-scale wind development across the state.[7]

Transmission and Grid

ERCOT is planning the largest transmission buildout in its history to keep pace with load growth.

  • ERCOT 2024 Regional Transmission Plan (RTP): The plan covers 2026-2030 needs and includes a comparison of a 345-kV buildout versus a new 765-kV backbone to move power from resource-rich regions to load centers. ERCOT’s 2030 summer peak demand forecast exceeds 150 GW, including about 50 GW of large-load growth.[8]
  • Permian Basin extra-high-voltage lines: The PUCT approved the first extra-high-voltage (765 kV) transmission plan in April 2025, following approval of the Permian Basin Reliability Plan in October 2024. The upgrade is aimed at moving more power into West Texas, a region attracting large industrial and data center loads.[9]

Battery Storage

Texas has seen rapid deployment of utility-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS).

  • Energy Vault SOSA Energy Center (Madison County): 150 MW / 300 MWh BESS. Construction started in Q4 2025, with commercial operation expected by Q2 2027.[10]
  • esVolta Texas portfolio: Three BESS projects totaling 490 MW / 980 MWh online as of July 2025, including Desert Willow (150 MW / 300 MWh), Anole (240 MW / 480 MWh), and Burksol (100 MW / 200 MWh).[11]
  • Plus Power Rodeo Ranch (Pecos County): 300 MW / 600 MWh standalone storage system completed in 2024, described as the largest standalone battery project in Texas at the time.[12]

Data Center Power Agreements

Tech companies are signing long-term contracts to secure renewable power for Texas operations.

  • Google + ENGIE: Google signed a 90 MW PPA tied to the 350 MW Chillingham solar project in Bell County, supporting Google’s Texas operations.[4]
  • Meta + RWE: Meta agreed to purchase 100% of output from RWE’s 200 MW Waterloo Solar project in Bastrop County, supporting Meta’s regional operations and data center capacity in Texas.[5]

Interconnection Queue

ERCOT’s interconnection queue is growing rapidly, driven by data center and renewable generation requests.

  • Large-load queue growth: ERCOT’s September 2025 System Planning and Weatherization Update reports about 189 GW of large-load interconnection requests, up from 56 GW in September 2024. Roughly 69% of those requests are tied to data centers.[13]
  • Generation queue size: ERCOT’s December 2025 Generator Interconnection Status report tracks 1,984 requests totaling 441,031 MW under study. The queue is dominated by battery (175,459 MW) and solar (161,807 MW), with natural gas (53,716 MW) and wind (46,191 MW) also significant.[7]

What to Watch

  • ERCOT’s final 765-kV vs. 345-kV transmission decision: The choice between a new extra-high-voltage backbone and incremental upgrades will determine how quickly power can reach data center-heavy regions.
  • Data center queue progression: With 189 GW of large-load requests and 69% tied to data centers, monitoring which projects move from study to construction will signal where Texas data center buildout accelerates.
  • Advanced nuclear permitting: The Dow/X-energy NRC filing is a real test case for advanced nuclear deployment timelines in Texas and could set a precedent for future industrial or data center nuclear projects.

Sources

[1] Argan, Inc. “Argan, Inc.’s Gemma Power Systems Receives Full Notice to Proceed on EPC Contract for 1,350 MW Combined-Cycle Power Plant in Texas.” Press release, October 30, 2025. https://arganinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/CPV-Basin-Ranch_FINAL-V2.pdf (accessed 2026-01-08).

[2] NRG Energy. “NRG Energy, GE Vernova and Kiewit Accelerating New Generation Capacity to Support Demand Growth.” Press release, February 26, 2025. https://www.nrg.com/about/newsroom/2025/44211.html (accessed 2026-01-08).

[3] Dow. “Dow and X-energy Submit Construction Permit Application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for Proposed Advanced Nuclear Project in Texas.” Press release, March 31, 2025. https://investors.dow.com/en/news/news-details/2025/Dow-and-X-energy-Submit-Construction-Permit-Application-to-the-U-S—Nuclear-Regulatory-Commission-for-Proposed-Advanced-Nuclear-Project-in-Texas/default.aspx (accessed 2026-01-08).

[4] ENGIE North America. “ENGIE announces Power Purchase Agreement with Google - Will supply power from its largest U.S. solar project to date.” Press release, October 24, 2024. https://www.engie-na.com/google-ppa-chillingham-solar/ (accessed 2026-01-08).

[5] RWE. “RWE and Meta sign long-term power purchase agreement for offtake from 200-megawatt energy project in Texas.” Press release, March 18, 2025. https://www.rwe.com/en/press/rwe-clean-energy/2025-03-18-rwe-signs-long-term-ppa-with-meta/ (accessed 2026-01-08).

[6] Amazon. “Amazon renewable energy portfolio: January 2024 update.” January 16, 2024. https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/sustainability/amazon-renewable-energy-portfolio-january-2024-update (accessed 2026-01-08).

[7] Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). “GIS_Report_December2025” (Monthly Generator Interconnection Status Report). Data product posted January 2, 2026. https://www.ercot.com/misdownload/servlets/mirDownload?doclookupId=1178164114 (accessed 2026-01-08).

[8] Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). “2024 Regional Transmission Plan (RTP) 345-kV Plan and Texas 765-kV Strategic Transmission Expansion Plan Comparison.” January 27, 2025. https://www.ercot.com/files/docs/2025/01/27/2024-regional-transmission-plan-rtp-345-kv-plan-and-texas-765-kv-strategic-transmission-expans.pdf (accessed 2026-01-08).

[9] Public Utility Commission of Texas. “PUCT Approves Plan for the First Extra High Voltage Transmission Lines in ERCOT Region.” News release, April 24, 2025. https://ftp.puc.texas.gov/public/puct-info/agency/resources/pubs/news/2025/PUCT_Approves_Plan_for_the_First_Extra_High_Voltage_Transmission_Lines_in_ERCOT_Region.pdf (accessed 2026-01-08).

[10] Energy Vault Holdings, Inc. “Energy Vault Begins Construction of 150 MW SOSA Energy Center in Texas’ ERCOT Market in Q4 2025.” Business Wire release, January 5, 2026. https://www.morningstar.com/news/business-wire/20260105513853/energy-vault-begins-construction-of-150-mw-sosa-energy-center-in-texas-ercot-market-in-q4-2025-bringing-total-asset-vault-portfolio-under-operation-construction-to-over-340-mw-while-growing-cash-in-the-quarter-by-65-to-over-100-million (accessed 2026-01-08).

[11] esVolta. “esVolta Brings Three Large-Scale Storage Projects On-line in Texas, Meeting 2025 Summer Peak.” Press release, July 30, 2025. https://www.esvolta.com/post/esvolta-brings-three-large-scale-storage-projects-on-line-in-texas-meeting-2025-summer-peak (accessed 2026-01-08).

[12] Gridworks. “Gridworks Completes Three Standalone Battery Energy Storage Projects for Plus Power and ERCOT.” October 14, 2024. https://www.gridworks.com/blog/completed-plus-power-ercot-battery-energy-storage-projects (accessed 2026-01-08).

[13] Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). “System Planning and Weatherization Update” (Item 16.2). September 15, 2025. https://www.ercot.com/files/docs/2025/09/15/16.2-System-Planning-and-Weatherization-Update.pdf (accessed 2026-01-08).