ENERGY

Solar projects break ground in NW New Mexico near shuttered coal plant

The two utility-scale projects will supply carbon-free power to Los Alamos County, Meta’s data center operations

Construction of two utility-scale solar and battery storage projects on Ute Mountain Ute land is underway. 

Combined, the two projects — Foxtail Flats and Four Mile Mesa —  will have the capacity of 270 megawatts of solar energy and 180 megawatts of battery storage. They are located on Ute Mountain Ute tribal land in San Juan County, near the now-demolished coal plant, the San Juan Generating Station.

Alok Sindher, managing partner of Tierra Adentro Growth Capital, owner of the projects, said it will use the coal station’s existing transmission capacity to tie into the electric grid. He said construction will be complete in the summer of 2027. The projects will create up to 600 jobs, up to 40 of which will be reserved for tribal members, Sindher said.

Sindher said the project will be able to capture federal tax credits for renewable energy projects, which are sunsetting.

“Our capital allowed us to get this construction moving faster and enabled phase two of it,” Sindher said of TAG Capital’s equity investment in the project. The projects are in partnership with New York-based DESRI.

The State Investment Council committed $100 million to TAG Capital in September as a part of the council’s effort to invest in funds that focus their capital on New Mexico companies or projects.

One of the projects, Foxtail Flats — which will have 170 megawatts of solar capacity and 80 megawatts of battery capacity — is under a power purchase agreement with the Incorporated County of Los Alamos.

Matt Heavner, vice chair of Los Alamos County’s Board of Public Utilities, said in a news release that the projects “will provide a major new source of reliable, carbon-free electricity to Los Alamos, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory and Kirtland Air Force Base.”

He added, “Foxtail Flats’ combination of solar plus storage means we can capture abundant New Mexico sunshine during the day and then use the batteries to deliver that energy in the evening, when people are home, lights are on, and the grid is under the most stress.”

The Four Mile Mesa project — which will have 100 megawatts of solar capacity paired with 100 megawatts of battery storage — is under a power purchase agreement with PNM to support data center operations for Meta Platforms Inc.

SOLV Energy will serve as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the facilities. The batteries will be manufactured in America by South Korean manufacturer LG Energy Solution, said Sindher.

Justin Horwath covers energy and tech at the Journal. He can be reached at jhorwath@abqjournal.com.