Kansas City, Missouri-based architectural firm Burns & McDonnell was hired as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for a new 164-MW solar energy project in Texas. The project, located in Hill County, is part of petroleum operator Buckeye Partners’ energy transition strategy, bringing additional solar generation capacity to the company’s portfolio.
“We are fortunate to be working with forward-thinking innovators in our industry, like Buckeye, to uniquely capture market opportunities in the renewables space,” said Mark Swanson, vice president for refining, logistics, midstream and chemicals in the Oil, Gas & Chemical Group at Burns & McDonnell.
As an integrated EPC contractor, Burns & McDonnell will be responsible for the full scope of the project including the design, construction, startup and commissioning and construction of a new 345-kV interconnection substation distributed energy via the utility transmission system.
“This new solar energy site demonstrates Buckeye’s continued focus on energy diversity and lower-carbon solutions to enhance our long-term sustainability while meeting our customers’ evolving needs,” said Todd Russo, CEO of Buckeye. “As a world-class EPC contractor, Burns & McDonnell is the right partner to help us advance this critical initiative.”
The project will include more than 360,000 First Solar modules and is anticipated to generate enough energy to power over 28,000 homes annually. Construction started in April 2022 and is expected to be complete by the first quarter of 2023.
News item from Burns & McDonnell
