In the monthly meeting of the Dickens County commission Jan. 10, 2020, the court took another step toward enhancing the energy corridor in the northern region of Dickens County.
Commissioners voted unanimously to publish a notice in The Texas Spur announcing their consideration of a reinvestment zone for independent power producer Broad Reach Power LLC.
Headquartered in Houston, Broad Reach specializes in energy storage for renewable energy sources via battery storage facilities.
According to Dickens county attorney Aaron Clements, Broad Reach has been in discussions with the county since the summer of 2021, and plans to locate in the reinvestment zone on the east side area of the Cottonwood Substation, near Afton. (Argo Blockchain would have the west side closer to McAdoo, and Broad Reach would have the east side.)
Broad Reach owns a 21-gigawatt (GW) portfolio of utilityscale wind, solar and energy storage power projects across the United States.
Founded in 2019, Broad Reach is now valued at over $600 million in U.S. dollars. The week before Thanksgiving existing shareholders agreed a deal to sell half of their interest in Broad Reach Power to Apollo Funds, which is managed by affiliates of alternative asset manager Apollo.
According to Dickens county judge Kevin Brendle, Broad Reach Power has plans to be operational in Dickens County in 2022, if county-company negotiations come to a mutual understanding.
In November Broad Reach brought on two 100MW battery energy storage system (BESS) projects elsewhere in Texas for participation in the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) market.
Both transmission-level systems are 100MW / 100MWh each, representing over $100 million of investment. Located on greenfield sites in Mason County and Williamson County, they have the respective project names of North Fork and Bat Cave.
At the time Broad Reach Power CEO and managing partner Steve Vavrik said in a press release, “The demand for new power generation in Texas, including wind and solar generation, is accelerating. Battery storage is a critical component in supplying affordable, clean power, while also enhancing Texas grid reliability.”
After Winter Storm Uri in February 2021, grid reliability and participation in ERCOT remains a hotly discussed in both the public and private sectors.
In other court action, commissioners unanimously appointed Danay Carnes as county/district clerk to replace Becky Hill, who retired at year’s end.
They also approved voting locations for the March primary, and new Pitney-Bowles postage metering equipment.
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