TotalEnergies has signed two new long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) to deliver 1 GW of solar capacity, equivalent to 28 TWh of renewable electricity over 15 years, to supply Google’s data centers in Texas. This agreement represents the largest renewable PPA volume ever signed by TotalEnergies in the United States. The power will be generated from TotalEnergies-owned sites currently under development in Texas, specifically the Wichita (805 MWp) and Mustang Creek (195 MWp) solar farms. Construction for these projects is scheduled to begin in Q2 2026.
Google's Director of Clean Energy and Power, Will Conkling, stated that this agreement adds necessary new generation to the local system, boosting the amount of affordable and reliable power supply for the entire region. Marc-Antoine Pignon, Vice President Renewables U.S. for TotalEnergies, highlighted that this deal supports the decarbonization goals of digital players, particularly data centers, and addresses challenges of land availability and power supply through large-scale colocation opportunities.
These PPAs complement separate gross PPAs of 1.2 GW recently secured by Clearway, a California-based renewables company 50% owned by TotalEnergies, to support Google’s data centers across the ERCOT (Texas), PJM (Northeast), and SPP (Central) markets. The Wichita and Mustang Creek solar farms are expected to create several hundred jobs during construction and generate substantial tax revenues for local communities. The deal underscores the growing trend of oil and gas companies investing in renewables to meet the surging power demand from data centers, especially in Texas, which is projected to see a significant boom in its data center market share by 2028.
While the agreement provides significant scale, price certainty for Google, and advances clean energy deployment, it also highlights the challenge of non-dispatchable solar power. Solar generation is intermittent, while data centers require 24/7 operation. The current PPAs do not explicitly include on-site firming resources like battery storage or gas-fired backup. Therefore, balancing during nights, cloudy periods, and peak demand will still rely on the broader grid, frequently involving natural gas generation in ERCOT, pushing the firming challenge onto the market rather than solving it within the contract. Despite this, the deal represents a material addition to ERCOT’s generation mix and aligns with TotalEnergies' strategy of delivering tailored renewable energy solutions.
