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Projects
Advanced Power partnered with Bechtel to complete the engineering, procurement, and construction of its first solar energy facility, Cutlass Solar, in Fort Bend, Texas. The facility started operation in January 2023. The solar PV project, built on a 700-acre site, added 140 megawatts of capacity to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas’ Houston Zone, producing enough electricity to power approximately 20,000 homes. The project plans to contribute to the renewable industry by selling the Renewable Energy Credits to participating companies.
High-volume projects like the Cutlass utility-scale solar project are perfect for deploying new technologies. Bechtel utilized a mix of digital and physical technologies to deliver the project, taking advantage of innovations that allow for safer, higher quality, repeatable, and reliable project execution. Some of the innovations Bechtel used on the Cutlass Solar Project include:
This centralized system captured all project data tied to geographic positions on the earth’s surface, allowing for analysis and management across the many acres of a solar project and providing for streamlined communications between all team members. As teammates worked their way through the solar field, the system could locate a point on a map and provide all the design specifics, pictures, construction status and inspection notes in the palm of each person’s hands.
CivDot is a robot on wheels that increased the pace of accurately locating points within the solar field. This self-driving robot helped to improve survey location productivity from 300 piles per day to 1,500 piles per day.
Bechtel used GPS equipped, autonomous machine positioning pile drivers for solar pile installation that improved the accuracy and quality of installations. Installation progress, as-built information, and individual pile drive time data was instantaneously provided. Bechtel’s proprietary algorithm allowed for 100% digital inspection of pile installation to the IFC design.
Using drone technologies, the team quickly captured thermal imagery and photogrammetry across hundreds of acres, which supported the identification of solar array issues, such as soiling or damaged panels, and enabled site teams to act swiftly to isolate and rectify issues that kept the site from operating at full capacity. The drone in the sky has helped ensure successful plant performance and has provided meaningful data for understanding export capabilities translating to plant guarantees.
Cutlass Solar is the fourth project and first renewable energy facility that Bechtel will deliver for Advanced Power. Advanced Power and Bechtel are committed to low-carbon energy as part of the worldwide mission to reduce emissions.
Bechtel built the Cutlass Solar 2 project for Sabanci Climate Technologies in 2024 to supply more clean renewable power to Texas and to support the energy transition. The project was delivered ahead of schedule and contains almost half a million solar panels spanning 1,100 acres. The energy generated from the facility can power 40,000 homes and is expected to save an estimated 600,000 metric tons of carbon emissions per year.
To meet the project’s ambitious schedule, Bechtel employed data-driven automation, survey robots, machine-controlled equipment, drones, and a mindset that ‘every minute matters.’ Bechtel’s first-of-a-kind digital execution hub used on the project enabled 100% digital delivery through software integration. The hub gathers data directly from equipment in the field and feeds it into an interactive map-based visualization.
At peak construction, more than 300 people were employed on the site. Approximately 30% of our professional staff and 15% of the project’s craft professionals were women, more than twice the industry average.
Bechtel implemented a 100% digital execution model, allowing the entire team to understand its progress with ease. Project management had the necessary real-time information to allow for data-driven, immediate changes, which was particularly helpful in the high-volume business of renewables. Daily goals and performance to those goals was readily accessible and drove both the craft professionals and the project team to manage their schedules, aligning with key project milestones. Digital execution also facilitated collaboration and expedited information sharing to bring solutions to the field. Here are a few examples from our recent solar execution demonstrating those benefits:
Steel pile installation was one of the first commodities of solar installation. From initial onboarding to peak, the piling crews improved their unit rate, allowing for piling to complete weeks ahead of schedule.
At the start of solar tracker installation, with the help of GIS and the digital execution model in which quantities are claimed daily, crews recognized the need to move faster and increased the weekly tracker installation rate by 50%.
Solar module installation was on the critical path of solar array construction, and with the motivation of instantaneous data, our solar module craft teams were able to double their daily production over the course of the project.
Upon completing the project, Ismail Bilgin, President of Sabanci Climate Technologies said: “We partnered with Bechtel for our first solar venture because they are experts in delivering projects better and faster. Sending maximum power to Texas’ grid is a fantastic milestone in this successful project and reconfirms that we were right to choose Bechtel.”
Cutlass Solar 2 was Bechtel’s second solar facility in Fort Bend, Texas. The first, neighboring Cutlass Solar 1, was completed in 2023.
Iowa, U.S.
2025
Bechtel is supporting the continued growth of solar infrastructure in Iowa, U.S., by developing Goldfinch Solar, an up to 200-Megawatt facility that is expected to generate enough clean energy to power up to 33,000 homes per year. The project is…
California, U.S.
2014
Located in the Mojave Desert of Southern California, the 377-megawatt Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System is the world’s largest solar thermal facility. Bechtel provided an early investment commitment for the $2 billion project and assisted BrightSource in obtaining a $1.37...
California, U.S.
2013
Completed in 2013, Bechtel built the California Valley Solar Ranch, a 250 MW facility that generates clean energy for 100,000 homes annually.
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