Your Homegrown Co-op Energy
The solar installations in Co-op Country were all commissioned and producing power by the end of June. Sites are located in Study Butte, Brewster Co., 3 arrays; Del Rio, Val Verde Co., 1 array; Brackettville, Kinney Co., 3 arrays; Brund- age, Dimmit Co., 2 arrays; and Ft. Stockton, Pecos Co. 2 arrays. Though RGEC does not actually own the arrays, it does own 100% of the power they produce, and it will all be used right here by Co-op members. Rio Grande’s Construction Site Manager, Project Management Team, Engineers, Technical Services Technicians, and Line Crews all played vital roles in the interconnection of the arrays to RGEC’s distribution grid.
According to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), a single megawatt is enough to power about 200 average homes in Texas during times of peak demand. The renewable energy generated from Co-op Country arrays should then be 11 MW, or enough to power about 2,200 average homes.
These sites are expected to save Co-op members about $8 Million over the course of 25 years, which is the projected lifespan of the equipment.
The sites coming online at the end of June coincided with ERCOT issuing a Weather Watch, and a warning that excessive temperatures across the state could potentially cause a power shortage, if renewables failed to produce as expected.
“As an example of the amount of power possible,” said Sr. Operations Manager (In Training) Martin Flores, “the Brundage site consisting of 2 arrays, started producing power June 6. Through June 28, it had generated 349,258 kWh of power.” Based on average residential power consumption of 1,000 kWh/month, this would be enough to power somewhere in the neighborhood of 349 homes for a month.
Information on the amount of solar generation by site was provided by RGEC Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) Administrator Don Flanders, who receives hourly feedback from the arrays at each of the sites.
Special thanks to RGEC Engineering, Project Management, and Communications Departments for photos.
