Season 1 episode 3 - The Balance of Power

Chris Elias, Head of Renewables Origination, TotalEnergies: Baseball great Ted Williams said hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports. And it is. Your eyes, hands, feet, almost every part of your body have to work together to make a round bat hit a round ball at exactly the right time. Right now power systems in the United States face a similar challenge. Renewables are transforming the grid but they can't do it alone. The country needs an integrated approach, which means that generation, storage, infrastructure and power management must work just like a baseball swing. Together as one.

[Energy Horizon - The balance of power]

[Texas]

Chris Elias: Texas is an incredible place. It's known for its vast landscapes, passionate sports culture, incredible barbecue. Less well known, though, is that Texas generates more renewable energy than any other U.S. state and is the fastest growing battery storage market in the nation.

[Piedra Solar, Freestone County, Texas]

Chris Elias: One of the first steps in building a cohesive, integrated energy system is bringing different energy sources together. Starting with harvesting the elements like wind and solar. TotalEnergies’ Piedra Solar project began construction not long ago. When it's complete, it'll cover nearly 3,000 acres. That's a big footprint of renewable power for the Texas grid. This is an impressive site.

Cameron Mabry, Project Manager, Piedra Solar, TotalEnergies: Yeah, the installation works are going exactly according to plan and to be honest, I cannot be any prouder of the teams that we have out here. In total we have over half a million modules going up on this site. We’re almost at 280 megawatts, which is going to power over 60,000 homes. We also plan to develop large scale battery facilities once the site is completed. These batteries will store excess solar power when demand is higher or the sunlight isn't available, helping provide a more stable and reliable energy supply.

[569,000 solar modules]

[280 MWac added to the grid]

[Enough to power 60,000 homes]

[^*based on the average U.S. household]

Chris Elias: Most customers now are companies that need to have and be able to demonstrate that the power they consume is sourced from renewables. What's interesting is that we offer everything from certified renewable energy credits to tailored energy solutions, where we pair land with onsite generation and that helps us address the decarbonization goals of big companies like LyondellBasell, Saint-Gobain and big tech names like Google and Amazon. And of course, renewables aren't enough on their own. When the sun stops shining or the wind stops blowing, we need solutions like battery storage to bridge the gap or flexible generation to keep the power flowing.

Cameron Mabry: And that's where CCGTs come in.

[Colorado Bend I, Wharton, Texas]

Chris Elias: This is a different kind of power plant. Quite a change from the solar fields.

Shazma Khan, Vice President, Power Origination & Sales, TotalEnergies: Welcome to the engine room. We are at one of the most critical parts of the integrated value chain our company has built. Solar farms like Piedra generate significant amounts of renewable energy. But when that's not enough, or there is a sudden spike of demand, the grid needs support. These combined cycle generating turbines, also known as CCGTs, provide reliable electricity whenever renewables dip. A combined cycle natural gas plant burns natural gas to generate steam, which in turn generates electricity. These can be turned on and off.

[CCGT: Combined Cycle Gas Turbines]

[TotalEnergies is a global integrated energy company that produces and markets energies (oil and biofuels, natural gas, biogas and low-carbon hydrogen, renewables and electricity) and is staying the course of its transition strategy. Learn more : totalenergies.com/energy-transition]

Chris Elias: And so this is powered by natural gas that we produce and trade ourselves?

Shazma Khan: Yes it is. TotalEnergies currently owns 1.5 GW of power generating thermal assets in Texas. But generating power is only half the story really. What unlocks the value of a site like this is how the energy is managed and distributed.

[1.5 GW of flexible capacity]

Chris Elias: So this is where the balancing act really begins.

Shazma Khan: Exactly. And that's what happens in our trading floor in Houston.

[Houston, TotalEnergies U.S. Headquarters, Texas]

Chris Elias: The trading room is where all parts of our electricity value chain come together. It's this integration that makes TotalEnergies stand out in the energy industry. The trading desk works in real time with all electricity sources, balancing renewables with gas, third party suppliers and grid requirements. Allowing incredible flexibility for our customers' demands. A catered menu for each of them. Every megawatt produced here is fed into our integrated trading system, where teams monitor supply and demand as it happens and even buy electricity when needed. Making sure every customer gets the power they need exactly when they need it. What's happening in Texas shows where energy is headed. An energy system that is faster, smarter and fully connected. From sunlight in Piedra to flexible generation in Colorado Bend to the trading hub in Houston, it's all one system now. One integrated engine. No part of the system stands alone.

[Logo TotalEnergies]

[©TotalEnergies - July 2026]