Solar developers synchronized 2.13 GW of new capacity to the ERCOT grid in Q3 2026, across 11 projects. Wind developers added 471 MW and gas developers 10 MW. Since January 2023, solar developers have synchronized 27.1 GW, more than BESS (18.2 GW), wind (4.4 GW) and gas (3.0 GW) combined.

In the queue, developers have filed for 79 GW of gas, eight times the January 2023 level, while new solar and BESS requests have fallen. West Texas now holds 40% of queued capacity, but North Texas received the most new capacity since 2023.

This piece accompanies the Q3 2026 ERCOT BESS buildout report. Here, a project counts as online when ERCOT approves it to synchronize. The BESS report counts commercial operation, so BESS figures here run slightly ahead of that report.

Queue figures count projects that have requested a full interconnection study (FIS), and exclude screening-only requests and projects already approved to synchronize. An interconnection agreement (IA) is the contract a developer signs once its studies are complete. Gas technologies are combined cycle (CC), combustion turbines (CT), reciprocating engines (IC) and steam turbines (ST). IPPs are independent power producers.

Key takeaways

• Vistra, Constellation and NRG own 61% of ERCOT's thermal capacity, but own only 2% of the capacity that came online since 2019. Utilities own 42% of it, and IPPs and developers 38%.
• IPPs and developers hold 71% of signed BESS and 64% of signed gas with a known developer. Utilities hold 54% of signed wind.
• West and Far West Texas hold 40% of the queue, up from 27% in January 2023, but received 23% of capacity built since 2023.
• Developers requested 34% less new solar in the first nine months of 2026 than a year earlier. Solar's real-time capture rate fell to 72%, from 148% in 2023.
• If queued gas projects reach operation at the rates similar projects have in the past, about 33 GW of the 79 GW gas queue would come online.

Solar developers synchronized 2.1 GW in Q3

Eleven solar projects synchronized in Q3. Charger Solar in Refugio County was the largest at 397 MW, followed by Piedra Solar in Freestone County at 282 MW. Wind developers synchronized their first new capacity of 2026: Aquilla Lake 3 in Hill County (297 MW) and Honey Mesquite in Glasscock County (174 MW). Gas added only Staghorn Gas, a 10 MW plant in Ward County.

Solar developers have synchronized more capacity than any other technology in every full year since 2021: 7.5 GW in 2023, 7.2 GW in 2024 and a record 7.9 GW in 2025. Through September 2026, they synchronized 4.49 GW, 19% less than in the same months of 2025. A typical fourth quarter of 2.3 to 3.9 GW would put 2026 at 6.8 to 8.4 GW, against 7.9 GW in 2025.

BESS developers synchronized 4.83 GW through September 2026, slightly more than solar, putting the technology on pace to surpass solar generation for cumulative installations for the first time ever. Gas developers synchronized 1.13 GW, more than in any full year from 2023 to 2025. Two Texas Energy Fund (TEF) peakers supplied most of it: Constellation's Pin Oak Creek in Freestone County and NRG's T.H. Wharton expansion in Harris County, each listed at 456 MW in ERCOT's queue.

IPPs and developers own most of the fleet, while utilities own half of solar and wind

ERCOT's operating fleet includes 158 GW of non-battery capacity across 1,056 assets and 18.7 GW of commercially operational BESS. We group owners into four types: utilities (investor-owned, state-owned and public power), IPPs and developers (independent power producers, or IPPs, plus infrastructure funds and independent developers), oil and gas majors, and tech and industrial companies.

Vistra (20.6 GW), Constellation (15.3 GW) and NRG (13.7 GW) are the three largest owners in ERCOT, with 28% of all operating capacity including BESS. NextEra (8.8 GW), CPS Energy (8.5 GW) and ENGIE (7.6 GW) follow.