Construction on the first phase of the 1.2 GW Big Rooter Power solar project got underway in July at Panamint Capital’s Twin Oaks power station in Robertson County, Texas. The project will be the largest solar project constructed at an existing coal mining site and the largest brownfield renewable energy project in North America, according to Panamint.
The energy infrastructure investor recently closed on the first phase of a $1.8 billion green loan to finance construction. Proceeds from the $769 million first phase will fund ongoing construction of the 491 MW Big Rooter West portion of the project. The over $1 billion second phase of the Green Loan will finance construction of Big Rooter East, the project’s 658 MW second stage.
Located halfway between Dallas and Houston, Big Rooter Power is being built on 1,804 hectares of reclaimed coal mine land and operating interconnection infrastructure at Panamint’s 349 MW coal-fired Twin Oaks Complex. The campus combines power generation, surface mining, energy storage, data center capacity, and high voltage transmission.
“When Big Rooter is complete, the Twin Oaks complex will have 1.5 GW of operating thermal and renewable power, in addition to over 20 miles of new 345 kV transmission, 1.6 GWh of battery energy storage and 790 MW of Batch Zero data center capacity under development across our 10,000-acre site,” said Apolka Totth, Panamint’s chief executive officer.
Panamint reports it signed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with an unnamed corporation. “Our long-term power purchase agreement with one of country’s largest companies will ensure the electricity we generate at Big Rooter will power job creation in the American economy into the 2050s,” said Bill Stanton, managing director of development at Panamint.
Construction of both Big Rooter West and Big Rooter East is expected to create over 800 jobs, Panamint reports.
Big Rooter East is the 658 MW second phase of the project and is slated to begin construction in December 2026 and enter commercial operation in August 2029. Financing on that phase is expected to close in Q1 2027.
Panamint reports it is committed to selecting domestic renewable energy companies. Solv Energy will provide EPC services for the project, including solar, substation and transmission infrastructure. First Solar will provide approximately 2 million solar panels manufactured in Ohio, Louisiana and Alabama. California-based Nextpower will deploy its NX Horizon solar tracker systems with Hail Pro-75 and NX Navigator software. In addition, the projects reportedly will use over 34,000 tons of domestically manufactured steel.
Nevada-based Panamint Capital is a woman-led energy investment company founded in 2019 thathad 718 MW of energy generating capacity in operation in 2025.
The company’s sustainability report points to the Twin Oaks station as an example of its redevelopment efforts that focus on preparing existing sites for utility-scale solar, storage and thermal projects. These projects, the report says, “extend the productive use of existing infrastructure through clean energy investments that support local employment and drive long-term economic value in the communities where we operate.”
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Tuesday, November 10, 2026
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