SpaceX Abandons Solar Power for Natural Gas at Terafab Factory
SpaceX's highly-anticipated Terafab semiconductor factory in Texas will not be powered by Tesla solar panels as previously expected, according to a report from Bloomberg.
Riley Trettel, who leads energy and data center development for SpaceX, confirmed that the company will instead build natural gas power plants to supply electricity to the facility. The power plants will also include 'very large battery arrays'.
This decision marks a significant departure from Elon Musk's earlier investments in solar power, as well as his recent acquisition of a company specializing in natural gas power plants and SpaceX's own plans to buy $2.8 billion worth of gas turbines over the next three years.
The Terafab factory is expected to cost $16.8 billion for its initial phase, although SpaceX had previously estimated it would cost $55 billion. The project has received a 100% tax abatement from Grimes County in exchange for spending at least $5 billion by 2030 and creating at least 1,800 full-time jobs by 2035.