McCarthy Building Companies has been selected by Lightsource BP as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for two utility-scale solar farms in Texas. McCarthy is responsible for the design, procurement, construction and commissioning of the facilities: the 163-megawatt Elm Branch Solar Farm located approximately 40 miles south of Dallas in Ennis and the 153-megawatt Briar Creek Solar Farm located 60 miles south of Dallas in Corsicana.

Construction of the two projects recently began and is slated to complete in September with commercial operations of both solar farms expected by late 2021. The energy produced will offset greenhouse gas emissions by a total of 370,000 metric tons of CO2 annually.

With more than 360,000 solar panels installed on approximately 1,350 acres, the 163-megawatt Elm Branch Solar Farm is expected to generate 272,000 megawatt hours of solar power annually or enough to power 24,790 U.S. homes in a year, while reducing CO2 emissions by 156,000 metric tons.

The 153-megawatt Briar Creek facility will generate enough clean and economic electricity to power 27,270 homes and a project of this size would allow for the offset of 223,440 metric tons of CO2 annually, equivalent to taking 45,815 cars off the road.