Flint Hills Resources commissioned a new 27-megawatt solar installation at its Corpus Christi West refinery, marking the first project of its kind in Texas. The $53 million facility features 56,728 solar panels across 100 acres and will provide approximately 28% of the refinery’s power needs.
The solar installation can generate enough electricity to power more than 5,100 homes annually under optimal conditions. The project aims to enhance power supply, lower production costs, improve operational efficiency, and reduce emissions from the utility grid at the refinery.
“This landmark solar installation is a major step forward in our efforts to continually improve the efficiency of our operations and competitiveness,” said Rodney Dillon, Vice President and Manufacturing Manager for Flint Hills Resources Corpus Christi.
“We’re thrilled to be the first refinery in Texas and among the first refineries in the nation to incorporate large-scale, on-site solar generation directly into our operations as a way to lower our energy costs and improve our performance,” Dillon said.
This marks Flint Hills Resources’ second refinery location to feature large-scale solar power. The company’s Pine Bend refinery in Minnesota was the nation’s first refinery to feature a solar installation, and the largest of its kind at 45 megawatts, when it went online in 2023…