 | 2/16/2012 | Panasonic to jump-start Pflugerville solar farm |
Panasonic, one of the world’s largest electronics manufacturers, has agreed to co-develop the Pflugerville solar farm alongside RRE Austin Solar, Pflugerville Mayor Jeff Coleman announced Feb. 16.
The announcement also sets a date for construction, with ground breaking planned for June and commercial operation slated for June 2013.
"Last year, we announced that the largest solar power farm in the country will be built in Pflugerville, and with today's announcement, we are proud to say that the project is still moving forward and will break ground in June,” Coleman said.
Panasonic officials said the company would not confirm or deny Coleman’s announcement at this time.
The planned $200 million solar farm, located on 720 acres in Pflugerville's extraterritorial jurisdiction, will use more than 400,000 solar panels to generate 60 megawatts of solar energy. It is expected to create 350 construction jobs over the next three years.
RRE had previously held a ceremonial ground breaking for the solar farm in December 2010, but there has been little visible progress in the meantime. Panasonic’s involvement would seem to reignite a project that has formed the backbone of Pflugerville’s green energy strategy.
Since the ground breaking of RRE’s solar farm—which Coleman called “the deal that started everything”—the city has announced a number of deals in recent years with companies in the green energy sector as a way to brand Pflugerville and attract high-paying employers.
“This project is a marriage of doing the right thing for the environment and reducing Central Texas' carbon footprint while at the same time developing a good business plan for the City of Pflugerville because clean energy is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the American economy,” Coleman said.
Coleman made the announcement at the CleanTX Forum held at Austin City Hall, a forum dedicated to clean energy in the Central Texas corridor.
“Solar is the up-and-coming direction for green energy, and we are excited to be on the ground floor with this," he said. "We want to become the green center of Central Texas and of Texas.”
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| 2/16/2012 | Panasonic to team with developer on planned Pflugerville solar farm, city officials say |
The developer of a proposed solar farm east of Pflugerville appears to have found a partner to turn the idled project into reality, according to City of Pflugerville officials.
City officials said late Thursday that they expect RRE Austin Solar, the developer of the proposed $200 million project, to team with Panasonic Enterprise Solutions Co. to start construction in June and begin commercial operations in June 2013.
RRE Austin Solar originally had announced the project and conducted a groundbreaking ceremony in December 2010, but more than a year went by without any construction other than the building of a service road for the site, which is on former farmland on Manda Carlson Road about 10 miles north of Manor.
The 720-acre site is in the Pflugerville extraterritorial district, and the company calls the project the Pflugerville Solar Farm.
Pflugerville Mayor Jeff Coleman said he received word from Panasonic officials Thursday afternoon that the project would go forward with Panasonic as the co-developer.
"Panasonic gave us permission to make the formal announcement," said Coleman, who was participating in a green energy event in Pflugerville on Thursday evening. "RRE and Panasonic are going to co-develop the project, and Panasonic will be responsible for the construction financing."
Coleman said the project will bolster his city's efforts to become a center for clean-energy business development.
"This is a really big deal for the City of Pflugerville," he said. "This is another huge step up that ladder to turn Pflugerville into the actual green energy capital of Texas."
Coleman also said that Pflugerville is "in the running" to be the site of an engineering center of excellence Panasonic intends to build that would develop "energy storage solutions for North America," according to the city's news release.
Officials of both RRE and Panasonic declined to comment on the announcement Thursday.
RRE officials said in December that their project had been held up by the lack of a major buyer for the electrical power the solar farm would produce. The company had negotiated to sell power to Austin Energy, but no agreement was reached.
Then it bid to supply power to a major solar initiative by CPS Energy, the municipal utility in San Antonio, but it did not win the bid.
Floyd Akers, director of Pflugerville Community Development Corp., an independent nonprofit economic development agency, said RRE had been working hard to get its project moving and finally found a solid partner in Panasonic.
"Panasonic is moving into renewable energy very strong, and this will be one of their flagship projects," Akers said.
It was unclear on Thursday who the buyers will be for the 60 megawatts of power expected to be created by the solar farm.
Akers said RRE and Panasonic are planning a "capacity auction" to sell a portion of the power to large energy users who want green energy in Central Texas.
The solar farm, which already has been permitted, expects to send its power over nearby transmission lines from the Lower Colorado River Authority that could deliver the power anywhere in the Texas power grid.
"Now that we have a partner like Panasonic joining us, they have the pockets to make things happen," Akers said. "I have a lot of confidence in them making this project super successful. As a partner I don't think you can do much better."
Akers said he expects the Pflugerville project will become a first step in Panasonic's plan to become a world leader in clean energy generation and storage.
Panasonic Enterprise Solutions is a business unit of Panasonic Corp., which is one of Japan's largest businesses and has global operations.
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| 6/3/2011 | RRE opening city to world |
Portuguese solar panel manufacturer Magpower could soon be the first major tenant of a proposed green energy business park in Pflugerville, bringing between 85 and 100 jobs to the city.
RRE Austin Solar CEO Daven Mehta, developer of the planned Pflugerville Solar Farm, said he is in serious talks with Magpower to open a 100,000-square-foot factory in Pflugerville.
City officials hope the solar-panel maker would be the first of many renewable energy companies to move into the proposed business park, located on the southwest corner of Pecan Street and Toll 130.
A bill is making its way through the Legislature that, if passed, would establish a renewable energy investment zone for the business park site. Green energy companies that move to that area would receive up to a 50 percent city property tax break for up to 15 years.
Floyd Akers, Pflugerville city attorney and interim executive director of the Pflugerville Community Development Corp., said, in the long term, he hopes for the business park to have between $150 million and $250 million in infrastructure and create more than 1,000 manufacturing or renewable energy jobs in Pflugerville.
The goal, he said, is to transform Pflugerville from a bedroom community into a place residents can work and live. Increased daytime traffic would help boost sales tax revenue in the city, allowing Pflugerville to lower property taxes, Akers said.
“The ultimate goal of increased economic development is that we can reduce the property tax rate and make Pflugerville not only one of the nicest communities in Central Texas, but one of the cheapest to live in,” Akers said.
In December 2010, RRE Austin Solar broke ground on a $220 million solar farm, located on 720 acres about a dozen miles east of Pflugerville. The farm will use 400,000 solar panels to generate 60 megawatts of electricity—enough to power more than 40,000 homes.
Mehta said RRE Austin Solar initially began discussions with Magpower officials more than four months ago after Magpower expressed interest in testing their panels on RRE’s live testing bed, planned on 78 acres next to the solar farm.
The conversation has since shifted from Magpower testing its panels on the solar farm site to possibly building a manufacturing plant nearby.
RRE’s interest in Magpower is largely due to its ability to manufacture more efficient solar panels. Traditional solar panels have a 20 percent efficiency rating, while Magpower is making panels with 35 percent to 45 percent efficiency ratings, Mehta said. Higher efficiencies are important to solar power because they reduce the cost of producing energy.
Magpower is already producing panels in Lisbon, Portugal, in an 800,000-square-foot plant. The Pflugerville manufacturing facility would be about one-eighth of that size and would produce 50 megawatts worth of solar panels a year, Mehta said.
Whether the solar panel company comes to Pflugerville largely depends on a decision from Austin Energy.
In March, RRE Austin Solar was one of 37 renewable energy companies to send proposals to Austin Energy in hopes of supplying the utility company with electricity.
Austin Energy is expected to narrow down the list in June and will eventually award a contract to one wind or solar company, Austin Energy spokesman Ed Clark said.
RRE Austin Solar plans to build several solar farms throughout the country, and Magpower will construct its manufacturing site in the first place RRE is awarded a contract with a utility company, Mehta said.
If Austin Energy agrees to buy energy from the solar farm, Magpower would be ready to build the Pflugerville factory as soon as possible, he said.
“If we get the power purchase agreement, RRE will commit to bring manufacturing to Pflugerville straight away,” Mehta said. “Naturally, economics tells us to go where we can receive the power purchase.”
Pflugerville officials hope new legislation could attract even more green energy companies to the city.
Akers said in order to approve tax abatements, cities currently must go through a “long, convoluted” process that includes holding multiple hearings, sending notices to the area’s government bodies and creating an ordinance.
If the bill passes, city officials would hold a single public hearing prior to approving the reinvestment zone. After that, green energy companies that move to the business park would immediately qualify for tax breaks.
Travis County and Pflugerville ISD could also opt to participate on a case-by-case basis.
State Rep. Mark Strama, D-Austin, authored the original bill, but it never made it to the House floor. It was later added as an amendment to another bill and left in a conference committee as of press time, said David Smeltzer, Strama’s legislative director.
The legislation has raised concerns from some Pflugerville residents who worry that it would allow city officials to grant significant tax breaks without public hearings.
“I am against anything circumventing public hearings and the public’s right to know,” said Melody Ryan, a Pflugerville resident and member of the Pflugerville Council of Neighborhood Associations. “The amount of tax incentives are really high.”
Currently, the site of the proposed renewable energy business park is owned by the PCDC and generates no city tax revenue. Akers argued that even with the tax breaks, attracting a significant number of green energy companies would increase property tax revenue for Pflugerville.
“Even if we get 50 percent of something, that’s a significant amount of money,” Akers said. “The real purpose of the zone is not only to encourage renewable energy, but to employ people in Pflugerville.”
Pflugerville is not only making efforts to attract large manufacturing companies like Magpower but small startups as well.
PCDC officials plan to launch an incubator in the proposed business park that would help renewable energy companies get off the ground. Startup companies would be housed in an office at the business park and would have an opportunity to test their products on the Pflugerville Solar Farm’s grid.
“We want them to grow them out of a small incubator site in Pflugerville and let this become their company headquarters as they grow,” Akers said.
PCDC would act as the developer of the business park site by putting in streets, drainage and utilities to get it ready for individual companies to come in. PCDC officials are in negotiations with investors to build office and warehouse space, which they hope to have on the ground in two years. The site also is likely to include a hotel and a couple of restaurant pads, Akers said.
Akers said the proposed business park and incubator have already generated significant interest among several renewable energy companies. The PCDC recently made economic development agreement offers to a solar panel manufacturer and a green data center, but Akers declined to name the companies at this time.
“Before the solar farm, we were talking to businesses in Nacogdoches, [Texas] and Oklahoma. Now we’re talking to companies in Portugal and Korea,” Akers said. “It’s really opened us up to the world.”
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| 4/26/2011 | RRE Austin Solar in talks to bring manufacturer to Pflugerville, CEO says |
RRE Austin Solar is in serious talks with Portuguese solar panel manufacturer Magpower to bring a 100,000-square-foot, 50-megawatt plant to Pflugerville, CEO Daven Mehta said during an April 26 City Council work session.
The plant, Mehta said, would bring between 80 and 100 jobs to the city and could serve as one of the first major tenants for a proposed business park located on the southwest corner of Pecan Street and Toll 130.
Mehta said the companies are in the due diligence phase of negotiations, but that he has received a "strong" signal from Magpower.
RRE Austin Solar's interest in Magpower is due in part to their ability to manufacture more efficient solar panels, Mehta said. RRE's panels have a 20 percent efficiency rating, while Magpower is making panels with 35 percent to 45 percent efficiency ratings, Mehta said.
Higher efficiencies are important to solar power because better efficiencies in solar panels reduce the cost of producing energy. Lower efficiencies hinder the financial viability of solar power.
RRE Austin Solar broke ground in December on what will be a 60-megawatt solar farm east of Pflugerville and will have about 480,000 panels. A 50-megawatt manufacturing plant would produce enough panels in a year to power Pflugerville three times over, said Floyd Akers, city attorney and interim director of the Pflugerville Community Development Corp.
Mehta said Magpower is already producing panels in Lisbon, Portugal, in an 800,000-square-foot plant. A Pflugerville plant, he said, would likely be closer to 100,000 square feet.
The proposed business park is under discussion among PCDC officials as a way to launch a business incubator aimed at helping renewable energy startups get off the ground. The incubator would house startups and allow them to test products on the solar farm.
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| 12/15/2010 | Pflugerville Solar Farm breaks ground, will be largest in the country |
One of the largest solar farms in the nation broke ground Wednesday in Northeast Travis County, 15 miles east of the City of Pflugerville.
“This has been a dream for us,” said Daven Mahta, CEO of RRE Austin Solar.
That dream started one year ago for Mahta. On Dec. 15, 2009, the CEO of RRE Austin Solar, landed in Austin to look for a site to build a flagship solar farm. After seeing farmland located along Manda Carlson Road in Northeast Travis County, he found it.
“We made up our mind that this is where we were going to build our flagship solar farm,” Mahta said.
On Dec. 15, 2010, his company held a ground breaking ceremony for Pflugerville Solar Farm.
“We are fortunate to break ground on the same day we landed; on Dec. 15," Mahta said.
The solar farm will produce 60 megawatts and use more than 400,000 solar panels to generate electricity from the sun. That is enough to power between 4,500 to 7,000 homes. Mahta says it will look like a lake.
Pflugerville made a deal with RRE; the city agreed not to annex the land for 30 years. In return, Pflugerville's name will be used on the project. Plus, the city will get $750,000 worth of solar panels to place on city buildings around town.
The project will create about 350 construction jobs over the next two to three years. Pflugerville Mayor Jeff Coleman says it will pump millions into the local economy.
“We estimate that over the 30 year contract, it will be about $2.5 million,” Coleman said. “With as big as this project is going to be, there are going to be supporting businesses that come to town and Pflugerville plans to be first in line to lure those businesses into our community and let them understand how much we want them.”
Mayor Coleman says this project lines up with the city’s green initiatives.
“We’re open for green business,” Coleman said. “The city council has made a concerted decision that’s the direction we want to go. We have a green energy park underdevelopment now and we’re going to ask green energy companies to go into that park. Pflugerville is going to become known as the solar city and Texas is going to become known as a solar state.
The company has invested $200 million in the solar farm project.
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