Big Elm Solar
Apex Clean Energy · Bell County · ERCOT
Big Elm Solar is a solar power facility with 200 MW of EIA-reported operating capacity in Bell County, Texas, registered as EIA Plant ID 68180. Apex Clean Energy is the public owner or developer; Big Elm Solar, LLC is the registered plant entity or operator. Big Elm Solar was named as a generation source for a first-of-its-kind Consortium for Climate Solutions virtual power purchase arrangement announced November 22, 2024; Apex identified Big Elm (200 MW) as one of the two projects supplying the consortium’s ~1.3 TWh/year commitment. Commercial operation began in January 2025. The facility interconnects at Temple Pecan Creek Substation (345 kV) at 345 kV.
Overview
Key fields
- Reported capacity
- 200 MW
EIA-reported operating capacity; nameplate, seasonal, AC/DC, and unit ratings may differ.
- Technology
- Solar Photovoltaic
Primary generation technology.
- Registry anchor
- Plant 68180
Big Elm Solar, LLC · Bell County · ERCOT
- Operating status
- Operating
Big Elm Solar is operating.
- Commercial operation
- January 2025
Best-supported operating milestone.
Profile
- Grid role
- Utility-scale solar generation in ERCOT's energy-only market.
- Context
- Big Elm Solar was named as a generation source for a first-of-its-kind Consortium for Climate Solutions virtual power purchase arrangement announced November 22, 2024; Apex identified Big Elm (200 MW) as one of the two projects supplying the consortium’s ~1.3 TWh/year commitment.
- Physical build
- EIA / interconnection record: 200 MW AC utility-scale photovoltaic plant (single generating unit reported as BELMS) — operational (first-unit-online in 2025). Local Bell County public project listing shows the Big Elm project scope as 200 MW solar generation plus 200 MW battery storage (storage appears in public/queue records as a separate Big Elm Storage entry; ERCOT / interconnection records show a separate Big Elm Storage project reported at ~120 MW in the queue).
Structured profile
- Reported capacity
- 200 MW
Solar Photovoltaic
- Operating status
- operating
Big Elm Solar is operating.
- Location
- Bell County
ERCOT
- Operator
- Big Elm Solar, LLC
- Asset role
- solar
ERCOT · Bell County
- Commercial operation
- 2024
Apex online milestone; EIA service month January 2025
Units and generators
Operating generator records and technology attributes reported through EIA-860.
| Generator | Capacity | Technology | Operation | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BELMS | 200 MW 200 MW summer | Solar Photovoltaic Solar · PV | Jan 2025 | Operating |
Performance
Monthly EIA generation history and recent market-resource behavior where linked telemetry is available.
Peer context
- Technology capacity
- 200 MW
- National rank
- #140
- TX rank
- #64
Monthly generation
Download CSVMonthly generation is reported through EIA-923. Capacity factor uses the current EIA nameplate capacity and is shown only for complete calendar years.
Grid and market context
Deterministic links to ERCOT market resources, price records, outage disclosures, queue records, and nearby infrastructure. Candidate joins remain labeled until corroborated.
Interconnection record
ERCOT GIS ReportMatched to the latest available ERCOT generation-interconnection queue record. Queue status and completion dates describe the queue record; operating status is verified separately against plant and market registrations.
Nearby substations
HIFLD infrastructure inventoryCommercial, land, and environmental record
Source-backed project transactions, agreements, land records, permits, and environmental disclosures. Portfolio and adjacent-project facts remain explicitly scoped.
Land and environmental record
Related parties and identifiers
Parties, market resources, and identifiers tied to this asset, with owner, operator, developer, EPC, compliance provider, and interconnecting entity roles kept separate.
Relationship graph
Drag organizations to explore the network. Select a node to pin its details and available page link.
Parties and identifiers
| Relationship | Entity | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Operator | Owner / developer associated with Big Elm Solar. | |
| Owner / operator | Owner / developer associated with Big Elm Solar. | |
| Grid selection | plant:plant-68180 | Canonical asset page /ercot/assets/plant/big-elm-solar. |
Reporting portfolio
Portfolio membership follows the latest EIA-860 reporting entity. It does not imply ultimate ownership.
Timeline and sources
Project milestones and public references behind the asset profile.
Project timeline
- Power Purchase AgreementAcceleratin...
Consortium for Climate Solutions (anchored by Harvard, MIT, and Mass General Brigham, with PowerOptions enabling 500+ additional member access and 3Degrees facilitating) executed a 15-year VPPA to procure 200 MW output from Big Elm Solar in Bell County, Texas. The aggregation enabled project-level financing and development by Apex Clean Energy.
- First unit online / commercial operationEIA monthly...
EIA records the operating generator with a January 2025 operating date; Apex reports the project came online in 2024.
Sources
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