Panamint Capital has begun construction on the Big Rooter Power solar farm in Bremond, Texas, a $1.7 billion project that will repurpose land associated with the Twin Oaks coal-fired power plant and Calvert surface coal mine. The 1.2-gigawatt installation is expected to be among the nation’s largest solar arrays and represents what the developer claims is the biggest solar project ever built at a brownfield site in North America.
The project is being developed in phases, with the first 491-megawatt section scheduled to begin operations in August 2028, followed by the remaining 658 megawatts in August 2029. The 10,000-acre site will also incorporate 1.6 gigawatt-hours of battery storage and 20 miles of extra-high-voltage transmission lines. The facility is positioned to address Texas’s growing energy demands from data centers, manufacturing, and increased air-conditioning usage during hot weather.
Paramount, which is backed by private equity firm KKR, acquired the Twin Oaks plant and Calvert mine in 2023 with plans to expand generating capacity at the site. The company notes that Big Rooter will be situated within a federal “energy community” designation, qualifying it for a 50 percent federal investment tax credit. Panamint secured clean energy incentives before July 4, 2025, when the One Big Beautiful Bill Act repealed significant portions of the Inflation Reduction Act.
The project represents a growing but still small sector of coal-to-solar development. Other notable installations include the 186-megawatt Tilden Solar Project in Illinois and the 111-megawatt Martin County Solar Project in Kentucky, both operational on former mine sites. However, Big Rooter is distinctive for operating alongside active coal production rather than on fully remediated or abandoned sites.
While the solar expansion reflects renewable energy growth in Texas, the Twin Oaks coal plant will continue operating. Panamint argues that the solar farm’s annual carbon-free generation will offset the coal plant’s emissions profile, characterizing the dual operations as part of Texas’s comprehensive energy approach.
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