A California-based energy company is planning to invest $1.15 billion in Caldwell County over nine years to build and maintain two power plants near Kyle and San Marcos that will combine solar generation and battery storage.

Chem-Energy Corp. will hire a minimum of 400 full-time employees within the first year of its business operations, at an average salary of $53,200 annually, according to a taxpayer-funded incentive agreement approved by Caldwell County.

Economic development officials in the multicounty area stretching south roughly from Austin to San Antonio along Interstate 35 — which they have dubbed the Texas Innovation Corridor — heralded the deal as the area's largest by dollar amount in its history.

“This is a seismic development for our region which will establish several new opportunities in our community," Caldwell County Judge Hoppy Haden said in a written statement.

More: Economists: Austin positioned for economic boom in 2022 and beyond

Under the county's incentive agreement, Chem-Energy will receive rebates on its property taxes totaling up to $27.2 million over the nine-year term. Even with the rebates, however, officials said the two projects are expected to increase Caldwell County's net revenue by a total of $22.4 million over the next decade.

The first power plant will be built on 3,518 acres in Caldwell Valley Ranch near Uhland, which is east of Kyle, with construction starting next spring and the facility operational in 2023, according to Chem-Energy. The second plant will be near Martindale, east of San Marcos, with construction expected to start once the initial plant is finished.

Caldwell County is south of Travis County and east of Hays County, with Lockhart the county seat. It stretches from roughly Mustang Ridge at its northernmost point down to just south of Luling. Caldwell County's population as of 2020 was estimated to be 45,883, with a median household income of $54,152, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

More: SmileDirectClub pulls plug on $37 million project in Kyle

Executives of Chem-Energy — which trades petroleum products, refines crude oil and develops energy-related projects — said the company also has plans for additional power plants across Central Texas.

“Caldwell County is the perfect strategic choice for our flagship operations in Texas,” said Robert Hayward, Chem-Energy's chief operating officer. “With available land in a growing region, close proximity to Texas State University and a robust workforce pipeline, the Texas Innovation Corridor provides an ideal environment for our organization’s growth.”

More: Tax break talks lag between Samsung, Travis County; impact on future of $17B fab unclear

The company said the two Caldwell County plants will sell electricity on the state's deregulated power grid, operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, as well as to regional electricity providers such as the Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative and the Lower Colorado River Authority.

More: 'It's a reset:' Austin's hotel market rebounding from COVID-19 devastation

The combination of renewable energy, such as solar power, and battery storage is viewed as one of the keys to bolstering the ERCOT grid as renewable energy sources continue to grow as a proportion of overall generation.

That's because some renewable sources are intermittent, with solar generation falling off at night or when skies are cloudy, for instance, and wind generation lagging on calm days. Batteries are a means of keeping stored energy from intermittent renewable sources flowing during those periods.

Tesla — known primarily for its electric cars and the big vehicle manufacturing plant that it's building in Travis County — is among the companies aiming to combine solar generation with batteries on the ERCOT grid.

A Tesla subsidiary, called Tesla Energy Ventures, recently won approval to sell electricity to retail customers in the state, although not in areas such as Austin that are served by municipal providers or some co-ops.

Tesla already is working to build solar and alternatively powered homes using Tesla technology in Austin, however, a project called SunHouse at Easton Park, in partnership with Brookfield Asset Management and real estate developer Dacra. The project will be Tesla's first solar neighborhood, powered by solar rooftop and battery products made by Tesla Energy.

Story continues below.

More: Formula One race weekend brings in welcome dollars for Austin businesses

Bloomberg also reported in March that another Tesla subsidiary, Gambit Energy Storage, has been working to build an energy storage facility totaling more than 100 megawatts in Angleton, near Houston. One megawatt is enough to power about 200 homes on a summer day.

Chem-Energy executives said their initial Caldwell County plant will feature a combined total of 600 megawatt/1,200 megawatt-hours in battery storage and 1 gigawatt of solar power generation over 10 years.

The company also plans to partner with Austin Community College's Hays Campus to create a solar and battery storage training center at the planned facility near Martindale, which will provide certifications for Chem-Energy employees. Initial hiring is expected in January 2022, and the training facility is expected to open in late spring 2022.

"We’re enthusiastic about our training facility, recruiting military veterans, training high school graduates and creating economic opportunities for Caldwell County,” said Clint Evans, Chem-Energy's chief of staff and a graduate of Texas State University.

Jason Giulietti, president of the Greater San Marcos Partnership, said the power plants and training facility will fuel "unprecedented economic development opportunities" for residents of Caldwell and Hays counties.

“Between the high-paying jobs, the incoming workforce training facilities and our region becoming a future resource to the statewide power grid, this will unquestionably raise the quality of life for residents throughout the Texas Innovation Corridor," he said.

Under Caldwell County's incentive agreement with Chem-Energy, the company will receive 100% rebates on its property taxes for the first three years of the deal, 75% rebates in years four and five, 50% rebates in years six and seven, and 25% rebates in years eight and nine.

The agreement indicates the company will increase its workforce throughout the nine-year period, for a total of 775 employees in the final year, although it's unclear if that's a requirement.

American-Statesman staffer Kara Carlson contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: $1 billion renewable energy project planned for Caldwell County