BREMOND, Texas (KBTX) – Energy investment firm Panamint Capital has broken ground on “Big Rooter Power,” a $1.7 billion multi-use energy project at the Twin Oaks power station site near Bremond in Robertson County.
According to Panamint Capital, once fully constructed, the 1.2-gigawatt development will stand as the largest solar installation ever built on an existing coal mining site in North American history.
“The project represents the transformation of a historic Texas energy site into a next-generation power and digital infrastructure hub, leveraging existing infrastructure to help meet growing electricity demand while extending the economic value of assets that have powered the region for decades,” Panamint Capital said in its press release about the project.
What makes the project unique is that it isn’t replacing the existing power setup – it’s adding to it.
Rather than shutting down the existing coal-fired plant on site at Twin Oaks, Panamint Capital is integrating the new solar panels alongside it.
When fully developed, the 10,000-acre site will combine existing coal-fired thermal power with solar energy, 1.6 gigawatt-hours of battery storage, over 20 miles of upgraded power transmission lines, and 790 megawatts of data center capacity, all operating out of a single location.
While many solar developments built on former mining property completely replace old infrastructure, the Twin Oaks project is a rare hybrid hub.
The existing 310-megawatt coal plant will remain in operation, generating power side-by-side with 1.2 gigawatts of solar energy.
When it comes to the 790 megawatts of power for “data center capacity,” KBTX has reached out to Panamint Capital and Robertson County officials for clarification and to ask if that means an actual data center will be built on-site or nearby.
Over 800 Construction Jobs: The project will create hundreds of jobs during its buildout, with Panamint emphasizing a priority on regional vendors and local hiring.
$66 Million Local Boost: The first phase alone is projected to generate over $66 million for the local economy over its lifetime in tax revenue and regional business support.
2 Million American-Made Solar Panels: First Solar will manufacture roughly 2 million solar panels across its U.S. facilities in Ohio, Louisiana, and Alabama to fill out the 10,000-acre project footprint.
Construction is already underway on the first phase, known as Big Rooter West (491 megawatts), which is scheduled to begin commercial operations in August 2028.
Work on the second phase, Big Rooter East (658 megawatts), is set to begin this December and reach completion by August 2029.
Long-term power purchase agreements are already in place to keep the facility supplying electricity well into the 2050s.
“Big Rooter Power represents our vision for getting more out of America’s energy infrastructure,” said Apolka Totth, CEO of Panamint Capital. “When Big Rooter is complete, the Twin Oaks complex will have 1.5 GW of operating thermal and renewable power… extending the economic value of assets that have powered the region for decades.”
KBTX is working to learn why Robertson County and the Twin Oaks site were chosen for this massive project, but we do know that historically, instead of starting from scratch in the middle of untouched countryside, energy companies often build solar arrays on land that has already been cleared, industrialized, and modified for power production.
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