Panamint Kicks Off 1.2GW Solar on Texas Coal Site

• Panamint Capital breaks ground on a 1.2‑GW Texas solar park at a former coal plant in Robertson County—repurposing grid-ready infrastructure to accelerate clean power across a booming solar market.

Panamint Capital LLC has begun construction of a 1.2-gigawatt DC utility-scale solar park in Robertson County, Texas, at the site of an existing coal-fired power station. The project will repurpose the former generating facility into a major renewable energy site, leveraging the location’s existing grid connections and infrastructure.

The development reflects a broader trend of converting conventional power plants to solar to speed deployment and reduce permitting and construction complexity. Texas remains the leading U.S. market for utility-scale solar, supported by high solar resources, rising electricity demand, and growing transmission capacity. When completed, the plant will add substantial clean power as the state continues shifting away from coal.

How will Panamint’s Texas solar conversion accelerate clean power at a coal site?

• Repurposes an existing coal plant site for solar, turning idle or retired power infrastructure into new clean-generation capacity without starting from scratch.
  
• Uses the facility’s established grid ties and substation/transformer footprint, which can shorten the time needed to bring new power online and reduce interconnection delays.
  
• Provides a fast-build pathway to replace some coal generation with utility-scale solar, helping narrow the gap between retiring coal units and meeting demand growth.
  
• Improves permitting and siting efficiency by building in an already-zoned, already-permitted energy area rather than seeking a new greenfield location.
  
• Strengthens local and regional clean-energy supply in Texas by adding a large block of generation capacity that can serve load through the state’s expanding transmission network.
  
• Accelerates decarbonization by displacing electricity that would otherwise come from coal, cutting lifecycle greenhouse-gas emissions associated with power generation.
  
• Supports grid reliability planning by adding dispatchable-friendly resources when paired with storage and grid services (frequency support, voltage control, and other ancillary services, where included).
• Helps maintain energy-sector employment and skills by leveraging existing operational experience at the plant site for construction, solar O&M, and grid-focused roles.
• Converts sunk costs in energy infrastructure—such as access roads, land control, and electrical equipment locations—into a lower-friction project for accelerating deployment.
• Contributes to long-term market signals for cleaner power in Texas, supporting investment that follows demonstrated capacity additions at established generation sites.