The Helena Energy Center is a 518MW co-located wind and solar facility in Bee County, South Texas, developed by Danish renewable energy company Ørsted as its first co-located wind and solar project globally and the largest renewable energy project in its onshore portfolio. Comprising the 268MW Helena Wind Farm near Pawnee — featuring 66 Vestas turbines across approximately 15,000 acres — and the 250MW Sparta Solar Farm with over 600,000 bifacial photovoltaic panels, the project leverages the region’s strong Gulf Coast winds and high solar irradiance to deliver complementary generation profiles on a shared site. Helena Wind commenced operations in June 2022 while the Sparta Solar plant began operations in June 2024, and the fully operational centre now powers the equivalent of over 110,000 Texan homes and businesses annually. The same ERCOT corridor continues to attract fresh capital, with Ashtrom Renewable Energy recently reaching financial close on the $200 million El Patrimonio solar project in Bexar County — a 150 MWac facility southwest of San Antonio backed by a 20-year CPS Energy PPA and financed by Bank Hapoalim’s US arm, targeting commercial operations in the second half of 2027.

Project Overview

Type: Co-located onshore wind and solar PV facility

Location: Bee County, South Texas (near Pawnee and Mineral, TX); primary transmission import path into San Antonio load centre

Total capacity: 518MW (268MW wind + 250MW solar AC)

Final investment decision: March 2021

Construction commenced: March 2021

Helena Wind operations commenced: June 2022; Sparta Solar operations commenced: June 2024

Full complex completion announced: June 13, 2024

Wind component: 66 Vestas turbines across ~15,000 acres

Solar component: ~600,000 bifacial PV panels

Annual generation: Powers 110,000+ Texas homes and businesses

Grid: ERCOT interconnection; primary transmission path into San Antonio

Total community investment: ~$500 million in Bee County; $115+ million in projected lifetime property tax revenues to county and school districts

Construction jobs: ~500; long-term O&M jobs ongoing

Tax equity financing: $680 million from J.P. Morgan for Sparta Solar (one of the largest PTC/ITC combined structures under the Inflation Reduction Act)

Environmental initiative: Partnership with Texas Native Seeds Program (Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Texas A&M–Kingsville) for native grass planting under solar panels — reducing erosion, supporting pollinators, lowering ambient temperatures

Contribution to Ørsted global portfolio: Brought Ørsted’s global operating onshore portfolio to 4.8GW at time of completion

Project Team

Developer/Owner/Operator: Ørsted (Copenhagen, Denmark; NYSE Copenhagen: ORSTED)

Ørsted EVP & CEO, Region Americas: David Hardy

Ørsted Head of Onshore Project Execution: Trevor Sholly

Ørsted Onshore CEO (at construction): Declan Flanagan

Wind turbine supplier: Vestas

Tax equity investor: J.P. Morgan ($680M — Sparta Solar)

Corporate offtakers:

Google: 150MW PPA (Helena Wind, 15 years — signed April 2023)

Henkel: Portion of Helena Wind generation

Johnson & Johnson: 55MW PPA (Sparta Solar — signed November 2021)

Target: Portion of Sparta Solar generation

Environmental research partner: Texas Native Seeds Program / Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Texas A&M–Kingsville

Government: Texas Senator Morgan LaMantia (Bee County); County Commissioner Dennis DeWitt

Published 1st April 2021: Ørsted has begun construction on what will be their largest onshore project, the 518MW combined wind and solar PV project named the Helena Energy Center in Bee County, Texas. The company announced that they have scheduled the completion date for the first half of 2022. The hybrid nature of the project allows Ørsted to maximize the use of the excellent location, in a highly liquid market, on a primary transmission import path into the San Antonio load center and in an area characterized by strong coastal winds and sunshine. The Helena Energy Center will consist of 268 MW Helena Wind and 250 MW solar PV Sparta Solar and has secured contracts with multiple corporate off-takers including Henkel for a portion of the wind generation and Target for a portion of the solar generation.

Also Read: Enel starts construction of 350 MW wind and storage facility, Texas

As part of the Helena Energy Center project, Ørsted is partnering with the Texas Native Seeds Program, non-profit research, and development program of Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute at Texas A&M – Kingsville, to research the optimal seed mix and planting process to grow native grasses under a portion of the solar project. Potential benefits include lower operational costs, enhanced biodiversity to attract pollinators, lower erosion, and production improvements by lowering the ambient temperature.

Ørsted is building at scale and ranked among the top five US constructors in terms of capacity additions in 2020. The project takes Ørsted’s onshore operational and under construction portfolio to 4 GW, a portfolio that is both geographically and technologically diverse, spanning Texas, the Midwest, and Southeast US across wind, solar, and storage. With the significant portfolio growth over the coming years, Ørsted’s US energy trading team, up to now part of the company’s Markets business unit, has been integrated into Ørsted’s onshore business, strengthening the ability for Ørsted to manage risk more dynamically.