Avantus,Toyota Tsusho Break Ground on 125 MW Solar PV Plant in Texas

US solar and energy storage developer Avantus and Toyota Tsusho America (TAI) announced today that they have commenced building a 125-MW solar project in Runnels County, Texas.

Avantus sold the Norton Solar Project to TAI in November 2023 and will now oversee the construction. The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works have been assigned to RES.

The start of construction works comes after TAI secured a construction and term financing agreement with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.

The solar site, which already has a corporate power purchase agreement (PPA) in place, is expected to go live in late 2025. With a direct current (DC) capacity of 159 MW, the facility will eliminate more than 230,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year.

Norton is Avantus’ seventh project developed and sold in Texas. The company, which is backed by private equity firm KKR, has developed nearly 2 GW DC of solar capacity in the state.

TAI is a subsidiary of Toyota Tsusho Corporation of Japan, one of the Toyota Group Companies.