Construction on the first phase of the 1.2 GW Big Rooter Power solar project got underway in July at Panamint Capital’s Twin Oaks power station in Robertson County, Texas. The project will be the largest solar project constructed at an existing coal mining site and the largest brownfield renewable energy project in North America, according to Panamint.

The energy infrastructure investor recently closed on the first phase of a $1.8 billion green loan to finance construction. Proceeds from the $769 million first phase will fund ongoing construction of the 491 MW Big Rooter West portion of the project. The over $1 billion second phase of the Green Loan will finance construction of Big Rooter East, the project’s 658 MW second stage.

Located halfway between Dallas and Houston, Big Rooter Power is being built on 1,804 hectares of reclaimed coal mine land and operating interconnection infrastructure at Panamint’s 349 MW coal-fired Twin Oaks Complex. The campus combines power generation, surface mining, energy storage, data center capacity, and high voltage transmission. 

“When Big Rooter is complete, the Twin Oaks complex will have 1.5 GW of operating thermal and renewable power, in addition to over 20 miles of new 345 kV transmission, 1.6 GWh of battery energy storage and 790 MW of Batch Zero data center capacity under development across our 10,000-acre site,” said Apolka Totth, Panamint’s chief executive officer.

Panamint reports it signed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with an unnamed corporation. “Our long-term power purchase agreement with one of country’s largest companies will ensure the electricity we generate at Big Rooter will power job creation in the American economy into the 2050s,” said Bill Stanton, managing director of development at Panamint.

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