Orion III Solar Project
SB Energy · Milam County · ERCOT
Orion III Solar Project is a 250 MWac photovoltaic facility in Milam County, Texas. EIA's May 2026 inventory lists one operating generator under Plant ID 66821, with service beginning in August 2024 and Ben Milam Solar 3 LLC as the registered operator. SB Energy reports a 326 MWdc project rating and identifies Orion III as one of three Orion Solar Belt projects that reached commercial operation in October 2024. The three-project belt totals about 900 MWdc and supplies Google data-center operations; those belt-wide figures are not Orion III-only equipment counts.
Overview
Key fields
- Reported capacity
- 250 MW
EIA-reported operating capacity; nameplate, seasonal, AC/DC, and unit ratings may differ.
- EIA capacity
- 250 MWac
May 2026 inventory
- Developer rating
- 326 MWdc
SB Energy
- EIA service month
- Aug 2024
Plant 66821
- Registry anchor
- Plant 66821
Ben Milam Solar 3 LLC
Resource stack
- 1 resource
HALO_SLR_UNIT1
Profile
- Grid role
- Utility-scale photovoltaic generation in ERCOT.
- Capacity scope
- 250 MWac in EIA · 326 MWdc on SB Energy's project page.
- Operating record
- Aug 2024 EIA service month · Oct 2024 Orion Solar Belt commercial-operation announcement.
- Commercial context
- Orion III is one of three SB Energy projects supplying Google data-center operations.
Structured profile
- EIA capacity
- 250 MWac
EIA May 2026
- Developer rating
- 326 MWdc
SB Energy
- Registered operator
- Ben Milam Solar 3 LLC
EIA
- Developer and operator
- SB Energy
SB Energy
Units and generators
Operating generator records and technology attributes reported through EIA-860.
| Generator | Capacity | Technology | Operation | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORN3 | 250 MW 250 MW summer | Solar Photovoltaic Solar · PV | Aug 2024 | Operating |
Performance
Monthly EIA generation history and recent market-resource behavior where linked telemetry is available.
Peer context
- Technology capacity
- 250 MW
- National rank
- #76
- TX rank
- #33
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.
ERCOT disclosed dispatch
1 ERCOT market resource · Solar
Generation
3 mo through May 22, 2026Capacity factor is average output vs. this plant's observed peak.
Output by hourlocal time · 90 days through May 22, 2026
Latest disclosed outputhourly · 2 weeks ending May 22, 2026
Generation from ERCOT's 60-Day SCED Disclosure (≈60-day lag), summed over this site's market resources.
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.
Market registration
ERCOT public disclosuresOperating context
ERCOT market recordsNearby substations
HIFLD infrastructure inventoryRelated 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Project company and EIA registered operator | Ben Milam Solar 3 LLC | EIA May 2026 generator inventory |
| Power purchaser for Orion Solar Belt output | SB Energy Orion Solar Belt announcement | |
| Market resources | HALO_SLR_UNIT1 | Linked ERCOT resources. |
| Grid selection | plant:plant-66821 | Canonical asset page /ercot/assets/plant/orion-iii-solar-project. |
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
- EIA Service MonthEIA May 202...
EIA reports August 2024 for Orion III's 250 MWac generator.
- Orion Solar Belt operation announcedSB Energy O...
SB Energy announced commercial operation of Orion I II and III; the announcement's 900 MWdc and module count apply to the three-project belt.
- Latest disclosed generation interval
ERCOT SCED disclosure is delayed, so plant performance windows end at the latest disclosed interval.
Sources
Related assets
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