Houston-based Occidental Petroleum last week opened the first solar facility used to directly power EOR operations in the Goldsmith field in Ector County. The 120-acre field features 174,000 photovoltaic panels with capacity of 16 megawatts. First Solar manufactured the panels and is contracted by Oxy to operate the facility. Subsidiary Oxy Low Carbon Ventures also said it signed a 12-year solar power purchase agreement for 109 megawatts of solar energy for Permian operations beginning in 2021 with a joint venture of Macquarie’s Green Investment Group and Core Solar.
Oxy CEO Vicki Hollub said, “Occidental is taking an important step toward our aspiration to become carbon neutral through use of emissions-free solar electricity.” OLCV president Richard Jackson added, “We are focusing many of our low-carbon investments and projects in the region with the goal of becoming the leader in producing lower-carbon energy.”
