OCI breaks ground on 260 MW solar project in Texas

OCI Holdings announced Thursday that its US subsidiary OCI Energy held a ground-breaking ceremony Tuesday (local time) for the Sunroper Solar Power Plant in Texas, a project being co-developed with Israeli energy firm Arava Power. OCI Holdings Chairman Lee Woo-hyun, OCI Energy President Saba Bayatli and Arava Power CEO Ilan Zidkoni attended the ceremony.

The Sunroper project is a 260 MW solar plant being developed on approximately 6.6 million square meters of land in Wharton County, Texas, targeting commercial operations in 2027. The facility is expected to generate enough electricity to power roughly 60,000 four-person households in South Korea.

OCI Energy and Arava Power each hold a 50 percent stake in the joint development. The project secured project financing backed by a long-term power purchase agreement signed in February with a top-ranked Fortune 500 company.

OCI Energy has been developing utility-scale solar projects centered on Texas since 2012, developing and selling approximately 2 GW of solar capacity over the past 15 years. As power demand driven by AI data center expansion accelerated deal activity, the company completed the development and sale of three projects last year alone — Sunroper (260 MW), Pepper (120 MW) and Lucky 7 (100 MW) — totaling 480 MW.

This year, OCI Energy completed the sale of a 50 percent stake in the 500 MW Lasaye project, which it is co-developing with Arava Power. Ground-breaking on Lasaye is planned for the end of this year, with commercial operations targeted for 2028. The project is reportedly in talks to sign a PPA with one of the seven US Big Tech firms known as the Magnificent Seven.

OCI Energy is also upgrading its business model in the ESS segment. The company is currently building the Alamo City ESS project — a system with 120 MW of output capacity and 480 MWh of storage — in partnership with CPS Energy and Vertec, the ESS systems integration subsidiary of LG Energy Solution. The project operates under a direct-operation model and targets commercial operations in 2027.

OCI Energy currently holds a development asset portfolio of 6.3 GW centered on Texas, comprising 3.1 GW of solar and 3.2 GW of ESS. Through a diversified business model, the company aims to reach 15 GW in development assets and more than 2 GW in operating assets by 2030, positioning itself as a leading US energy company.

"Solar power continues to grow in the US energy market, driven by rising electricity demand from AI data centers," OCI Holdings Chairman Lee said. "The ground-breaking of the Sunroper project demonstrates that OCI Energy is expanding its direct-operation base beyond its traditional develop-and-sell model, broadening opportunities to generate new revenue."