Dive Brief:
- Sabanci Renewables tapped Reston, Virginia-based Bechtel to design and construct a new, 1,100-acre project known as Oriana Solar in Victoria County, Texas, the contractor announced on Oct. 30.
- This is the second project in Bechtel’s portfolio for the company, which is a subsidiary of Turkish firm Sabanci Holdings, and the contractor’s third solar job in Texas. Bechtel recently passed the halfway construction point at Cutlass Solar 2, also owned by Sabanci, per the release. It also completed Cutlass Solar 1 in January for Advanced Power.
- Sabanci purchased Oriana Solar from Advanced Power on Oct. 4, and plans to invest between $220 million and $250 million into the solar field, according to a company spokesperson.
Dive Insight:
Oriana Solar’s 1,100-acre site is approximately 10 miles north of Victoria, Texas, according to Advanced Power’s announcement of the sale. It has a 232 MWdc photovoltaic electric generating facility capable of powering 34,000 homes. It will serve load centers in the Gulf Coast region of Texas, including Houston, Corpus Christi and Freeport.
Bechtel will design and deliver the solar project, which includes engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, and project management, per its release. Construction is set to begin early next year and be completed in mid-2025.
“We look forward to applying our more than 75 years of power plant delivery experience to this important project,” Scott Austin, general manager of Bechtel’s renewables and clean power unit, told Construction Dive in an email.
Large contractors have increasingly entered the solar field. In October, Edmonton, Alberta-based PCL announced that it broke the $1 billion mark for secured projects. The number is a large escalation from the $500 million mark the year prior.