Masdar’s Terra-Gen Completes $950M Lockhart Solar-Storage Hub

Terra-Gen has brought the final phase of its Lockhart Solar and Storage complex in San Bernardino County, California, into commercial operation, completing a four-phase, $950 million buildout that now combines 365 megawatts (MW) of solar generation with 173.7 MW of battery storage. The last piece, the 80 MW Lockhart IV solar project, was announced by Terra-Gen on November 10 and confirmed in a follow-up release from co-owner Masdar, the Abu Dhabi state renewable energy company, this week.

What’s now online

Combined, the four Lockhart phases add up to roughly 539 MW of solar and storage capacity on about 4,000 acres of private land in the Mojave Desert region, using nearly 1 million solar modules and 248 battery enclosures. Terra-Gen says the full complex can meet the annual electricity needs of more than 350,000 homes and businesses, with Lockhart IV’s output alone covering around 40,000 of those under a long-term power purchase agreement with a California load-serving entity. The project connects to the grid through an existing gen-tie line into Southern California Edison’s Kramer Junction substation, avoiding the need for new long-distance transmission.

Who built it, and who owns it

Cupertino Electric served as engineering, procurement and construction contractor, with construction supporting more than 220 jobs at peak activity and logging over 122,000 work hours without a lost-time incident, according to Terra-Gen. Terra-Gen itself is jointly owned by Masdar and Igneo Infrastructure Partners and describes itself as one of the largest independent, integrated renewable energy producers in the United States, with more than 15 gigawatts (GW) of projects in its development pipeline. “We are well positioned to continue delivering reliable, sustainable energy at scale,” Terra-Gen chief executive John O’Connor said of the milestone, pointing to the company’s broader push to add capacity as US electricity demand climbs.

Part of a bigger Masdar push into solar-plus-storage

Lockhart is one of several solar-plus-storage projects Masdar has advanced in recent months as it builds out a global renewables and green hydrogen portfolio from its base in the UAE. The company’s other recent moves include starting construction on a floating solar project in Southeast Asia and backing solar plants in the Comoros. Pairing storage directly with solar generation, as Lockhart does, has become close to standard practice for new utility-scale solar in markets like California, where regulators and grid operators have pushed to smooth out the swings in output that come from relying on sunlight alone — the same dynamic now driving mandates elsewhere, including India’s move to require state-owned distribution utilities to add their own storage capacity.

Why the timing matters

The project’s completion lands as developers across the US solar industry report rising attrition on projects that fail to reach construction, with financing access, permitting delays and local opposition cited as the main culprits in recent industry analysis. Lockhart’s four phases, by contrast, moved from the first completed battery system in January 2026 to full completion in November 2026 without a major public setback, aided by financing secured well in advance: Terra-Gen closed $383 million in financing for the Lockhart III and IV phases in December 2025. Developers have also been consolidating in the solar supply chain this month, illustrated by the announced all-stock merger of racking and electrical-balance-of-system suppliers Array Technologies and Shoals Technologies, as the industry looks to cut costs on exactly the kind of large-scale builds Lockhart represents.

Sources

• Terra-Gen, “Terra-Gen Celebrates Commercial Operation of $950 Million Lockhart Solar and Storage Project,” press release, November 10, 2026 — cost, capacity, construction figures, CEO quote. terra-gen.com
• Masdar, “Lockhart Solar PV IV Project Reaches Commercial Operations,” newsroom release, November 2026 — ownership, portfolio context. masdar.ae
• Solar Quarter, “Terra-Gen Commissions 80 MW Lockhart IV Solar Project,” July 2026 — project phasing background. solarquarter.com
• PV-Tech, “Terra-Gen closes financing for 205MW Lockhart III & IV solar project in California,” December 2025 — financing history.

Illustrative image. Photo: Kecko from Eastern Switzerland, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — source