Hyundai Engineering & Construction said on the 28th that it held a groundbreaking ceremony for the LUCY solar development project in Dallas, Texas, on the 27th local time.
Project LUCY is a project in which Team Korea—comprising private corporations, public corporations, and policy funds including Hyundai Engineering & Construction, Korea Midland Power (KOMIPO), Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development Corporation (KIND), EIP Asset Management, and the PIS Fund—will build and operate a large-scale 350-megawatt (MW) solar power plant in Concho County, northwest of Austin, Texas.
A total project cost of 750 billion won will be invested in a 11,735,537-square-meter site, about four times the size of Yeouido and equivalent to about 1,653 soccer fields. Having participated from the development stage, Hyundai Engineering & Construction will handle equity investment, technical review, and solar module supply. Construction will be carried out by local builder Primoris, and operations will be handled by Korea Midland Power (KOMIPO).
The groundbreaking ceremony, jointly hosted by Team Korea, was attended by key officials from related agencies and corporations, including Executive Vice President Kim Gyeong-su of Hyundai Engineering & Construction's Global Business Division; President Lee Young-jo of Korea Midland Power (KOMIPO); CEO Park Hee-jun of EIP Asset Management; Primoris Vice President Willie De-Souza; and High Road Energy Marketing President Darrick Eugene.
After signing the project fund investment agreement and the business rights acquisition agreement in 2023, the project completed various permits and due diligence for local grid operation the following year, finished financing last year, and successfully wrapped up preliminary work such as geotechnical surveys and detailed design. With this groundbreaking, the main construction will begin to install solar trackers, high-voltage equipment, and solar modules, with completion and the start of commercial operation scheduled for July next year.
After completion, it will produce about 926 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity annually for 35 years. This is enough for about 260,000 households, based on a four-person household using an average of 300 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per month.
The electricity produced will be sold to global corporations such as Starbucks and Workday through a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA). A Hyundai Engineering & Construction official noted that the company expects to expand the supply of eco-friendly power in the United States while contributing to the achievement of global RE100 based on a stable power production and supply structure.
A Hyundai Engineering & Construction official said, "Project LUCY is a representative project signaling Hyundai Engineering & Construction's full-fledged entry into the North American renewable energy market," adding, "Building on our capabilities across the entire energy business—from development, finance, and construction to operations—we will accelerate future energy businesses such as large nuclear power plants, SMRs, and solar power, and strengthen our business competitiveness in advanced global markets."