Solar project headed for West Texas land not suitable for much else

Energy Fix:
California-based 174 Power Global is breaking ground Thursday on the largest utility-scale solar project in Texas, the company said.

The project is on 1,500 acres of private land in Pecos County, in West Texas, and area that has become a hub of utility-scale solar projects. It's 236 megawatt capacity can power 50,000 homes a year, and all of its power will be sold to Austin Energy, a utility for the city of Austin. The project will cost $260 million.

174 Power Global is a subsidiary of South Korea's Hanwha Energy.

174 Power Global has focused on developing solar projects on land without competing interests. The project in Pecos County, for instance, has not oil and gas development and the salinity of the property's water prevents it from being used for livestock or agriculture.

"Solar is the highest use for this particular site selected," said Deborah Reyes, senior director of development for 174 Power Global in the eastern part of the U.S.

Although solar power, unlike wind, has been slow to grow in Texas, the state has an existing network of transmission lines in West Texas that make it ideal place for large-scale solar and wind projects, Reyes said.
...
I think the brackish water under the land could be used in the fracking process and I don't think it will interfere with the solar project.  Austin is one of those liberal spots where decisions are made on "virtue signaling" more than efficiency.  Until solar companies can develop a way to scale the energy to meet fluctuations in demand it will be at best a supplemental energy source during daylight hours.

California has the highest electric rates in the US and it is the largest user of solar energy.  There is nothing free about this form of energy.  When the panels create more electricity than the state can use it actually has to pay people in other states to take the excess.  They can's scale down or up.  They hope to solve this problem by adding batteries which is another expense to the system.

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