Diode Ventures announces financial close of utility-scale solar farm in Texas

Diode Ventures has announced financial close of its Grizzly Ridge Solar Project, a utility-scale solar project with 138MWdc capacity which will serve the ERCOT North Zone in Texas.
The site is shovel-ready, and the transmission grid will undergo an upgrade from 69kV to 138kV as a response to the project. Diode is also in discussions to add an on-site battery energy storage system to the project.
Located in Hamilton Country, Texas the project was co-developed with RKB Energy and has an interconnection agreement with Brazos Electric Cooperative, a transmission service provider.
It is an “exciting development in a region of the country that continues to see significant demand growth,” said Paul Ksiazek, senior project director with Diode. “The environmental, economic and local tax benefits are noteworthy,” he added.
It is the latest development in what has been a strong quarter for the Lone Star State, with a recently published Solar Energies Industry Association (SEIA) report showing the state added 1.4GWdc of capacity in Q1, by far the largest of any US state.
“In Texas, we are seeing more resilient infrastructure development on the horizon to support large-scale energy generation from both renewable and non-renewable sources,” said Brad Hardin, president of Diode.
Diode Ventures is a wholly owned subsidiary of Black & Veatch, a global engineering firm present in more than 100 countries.