DESRI Breaks Ground on New Mexico Solar-Storage Facility for EPE

• DESRI starts building the 150-MW Santa Teresa solar-plus-storage plant in New Mexico, set to power 60,000 El Paso Electric homes under a 20-year PPA.

D. E. Shaw Renewable Investments has begun turning desert soil in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, where its 150-megawatt Santa Teresa solar farm will rise beside a 600-megawatt-hour battery system. The hybrid complex, now fully financed and cleared to proceed, will deliver clean power to El Paso Electric under a 20-year purchase agreement—enough electricity, DESRI estimates, to cover the annual needs of roughly 60,000 households across the utility’s service territory.

Securing financial notice to proceed is often the trickiest hurdle for large-scale renewables, yet Santa Teresa sailed through on the strength of a debt package arranged by DNB Bank ASA and the National Bank of Canada. That backing unlocks immediate construction, with San Diego-based SOLV Energy handling engineering, procurement and construction before shifting into a long-term operations role. Battery technology will come from LG Energy Solution Vertech, whose lithium-ion units are designed to shift midday solar surpluses into evening peaks—an increasingly crucial service as the Southwest grid decarbonises.

Dave Hawkins, vice-president of system planning and operations support at El Paso Electric, framed the project as a reliability upgrade as much as a climate win. “By providing clean energy and added capacity to the entire region, we’re strengthening reliability, supporting sustainability and investing in future economic development growth,” he said in a statement.

Santa Teresa follows on the heels of DESRI’s Carne project, a 130-MW solar array paired with 260 MWh of storage in neighbouring Luna County. Taken together, the two sites underscore how utilities in the desert Southwest are leaning on paired solar-storage plants to hit renewable-portfolio targets without sacrificing grid stability. Their batteries can charge in the sun-soaked afternoon and dispatch power after sunset, reducing the strain on conventional gas peakers.

Beyond meeting regulatory mandates, hybrid projects like Santa Teresa promise local economic dividends—construction jobs now, permanent maintenance roles later and a broader tax base for Doña Ana County over the plant’s multi-decade lifespan. With ground-breaking complete and key contractors in place, DESRI expects to have panels glinting in the high desert sun by late 2026, positioning El Paso Electric to serve a growing population with power that is both clean and dependable.