Bechtel credits a comprehensive digital approach for allowing it to finish building a 218MW solar power station in Texas ahead of its 13-month deadline.
Set on 1,100 acres in Fort Bend County, nearly half a million solar panels are now generating enough electricity to power 40,000 homes.
The client is renewable energy developer Sabanci Climate Technologies, a subsidiary of Turkish conglomerate Sabanci Holding.
It aims to develop a 1GW renewable portfolio by 2025.
To meet the deadline, Bechtel used survey robots, drones, and an “every-minute-matters” project ethos, the company said.
It set up a “digital execution hub” to gather data from equipment and people in the field, and feed those data into an interactive, map-based visualisation tool.
Hear the team explain their digital tactics:
Some 300 people worked at the site at peak construction.
Bechtel said around 30% of the project’s professional staff and 15% of craft workers were women, beating the industry average 2.5 times.
The company finished Sabanci’s neighbouring Cutlass Solar 1 plant in January 2023, and will soon start building the Oriana Solar station in Victoria County, Texas, also for Sabanci.
