Primergy Energizes Texas Megasolar Plant, Delivering Carbon-Free Power to Microsoft

• Primergy brings its 408-MW Ash Creek Solar plant online in Hill County, Texas, under a Microsoft PPA, powering 90,000 homes and delivering USD 100 million in local taxes.

Texas’ relentless sun just gained a new workhorse. Primergy Solar on Thursday flipped the switch on Ash Creek Solar, a 408-MWac photovoltaic park spread across 3,480 acres of cattle country in Hill County, roughly an hour south of Fort Worth. The milestone makes Ash Creek one of the five largest operating solar plants in the Lone Star State and reinforces Texas’ claim as America’s fastest-growing clean-power market.

From day one the plant’s output is spoken for. Every electron flows into the ERCOT grid under a long-term power-purchase agreement with Microsoft, helping the tech giant inch toward its 2030 carbon-negative pledge. Over its three-decade lifespan, Ash Creek should crank out about 1 TWh of carbon-free electricity annually—enough to light roughly 90,000 homes—and funnel some USD 100 million in tax revenues into local schools and public services. Because the panels track the sun and sit atop native-grass groundcover, the site also curbs dust, conserves water and leaves room for pollinators to thrive alongside neighboring hayfields.

The journey to commercial operation stretches back nearly a decade. Orion Renewable Energy Group and Eolian launched development in 2016; Primergy bought the project in 2021 and hired SOLV Energy as its EPC partner. To fund construction, the Oakland-based developer stitched together a USD 588-million debt package and a USD 350-million tax-equity slice led by a Fortune 500 telecom and Truist Bank, pushing total capital commitments to almost USD 1 billion.

Beyond raw megawatts, Ash Creek handed Hill County an immediate economic boost—about 350 union construction jobs at peak build-out and six permanent operations roles. More broadly, the project highlights how corporate buyers are driving the next wave of utility-scale renewables in Texas, a state that added a record 6 GW of large solar last year alone. With battery-storage expansions already under study, Hill County is trading its prairie skyline for a future built on sunlight.