DESRI and El Paso Electric Announce Start of Construction at Santa Teresa Solar & Storage Facility in Doña Ana County, NM

DESRI, in partnership with El Paso Electric (EPE), announced that the Santa Teresa Solar and Storage project (Santa Teresa, or the Project) has achieved financial notice to proceed (FNTP) and commenced construction. Santa Teresa is a 150 megawatt (MWac) solar facility with a 600 megawatt-hour (MWh) battery energy storage system (BESS) located in Doña Ana County, New Mexico.

"The Santa Teresa Project is a cornerstone of DESRI's growing partnership with El Paso Electric and a prominent example of how cost-effective solar and storage assets can power New Mexico's future," said Hy Martin, Chief Development Officer of DESRI. "The Project not only contributes to regional grid stability via large-scale energy storage, but it also underscores our shared commitment to clean energy and economic development in Doña Ana County and across the state."

"This Project is about more than adding solar power - it's about delivering lasting value to the communities and businesses we serve," said Dave Hawkins, Vice President of System Planning and Operations Support at El Paso Electric. "By providing clean energy and added capacity to the entire region, we're strengthening reliability, supporting sustainability and investing in future economic development growth."

Santa Teresa has a 20-year power purchase agreement with EPE. The Project is expected to generate enough clean energy to power approximately 60,000 EPE customer homes each year. Santa Teresa is DESRI's second project to begin construction in EPE's territory, following the 130 MWac solar and 260 MWh BESS Carne project, which began construction in 2024.

Financing for the construction of the Project was provided by DNB Bank ASA, New York Branch and National Bank of Canada as Joint Coordinating Lead Arrangers, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Limited, New York Branch and Korea Development Bank. Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas acted as the Administrative Agent.

"During this hot summer, energy demand continues to rise. We're proud to be a part of a project that helps support the community by adding clean energy technology to the electric grid, and to do so using U.S. made battery systems," said Jaehong Park, CEO of LG Energy Solution Vertech. "This is a pivotal moment for energy storage, and we're working with DESRI and El Paso Electric to build on the momentum we've seen in the American energy storage market."

LG Energy Solution Vertech will provide U.S. made battery energy storage systems and the AEROS™ software suite for the project with continuous support through a long-term service agreement. SOLV Energy will serve as the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor for the Project and will also provide ongoing operations and maintenance services once the Project is operational.

DESRI | https://desri.com/

El Paso Electric | https://www.epelectric.com/