SunEdison to Build 50MW of PV Solar for Xcel in New Mexico
SunEdison, a subsidiary of MEMC Electronic Materials (NYSE: WFR), and Xcel Energy’s (NYSE: XEL) regional operating company, Southwestern Public Service Company, announced a deal for five photovoltaic solar installations in New Mexico that will total 50 megawatts (MW) in generation capacity.
The five 10MW sites, to be located in Lea and Eddy counties in southeastern New Mexico, will comprise a utility-scale, ground-mount system that will be fully operational by the end of 2011. In total, the installations will generate enough power for more than 10,000 homes in its first full year of operation.
This total project will enable Xcel Energy to continue meeting New Mexico’s renewable portfolio standard, which requires that regulated electric utilities meet 15% of their electricity needs by 2015, and 20% by 2020, through renewable energy sources.
The five installations will be built, financed and maintained by SunEdison, under a 20-year solar power services agreement (SPSA) with Xcel Energy, which will buy the solar power generated by the plant.
This project eclipses the 8.22MW (DC) solar power system SunEdison activated for Xcel Energy in Alamosa, Colorado in December 2007.
SunEdison finances, installs and operates distributed power plants using proven photovoltaic technologies, delivering fully managed, predictably priced solar energy services for its commercial, government and utility customers.
Solar wafer maker MEMC acquired SunEdison in October 2009.
Taiwan unveils Asia’s biggest solar power plant
From Radio Taiwan International
Taiwan has unveiled what government officials are calling Asia’s biggest solar power plant. Officials say that currently Taiwan imports almost all of its energy and is seeking to tap into more renewable energy sources.
The two-hectare solar power plant began operations on Tuesday. It is located in Kaohsiung County, an area in southern Taiwan that enjoys year-round sunshine. Taiwan’s Atomic Energy Council says the plant is equipped with 141 solar panels, enough to power a thousand homes. Officials say that the plant would cut Taiwan’s carbon emissions by up to 700 tons every year.
Right now about 6 percent of Taiwan’s energy comes from renewable sources. A bill passed in June would boost the amount of energy coming from renewable sources in order to power 6.5 to 10 million homes over the next 20 years.
Boulder City to have nation’s largest solar PV array
By Stephanie Tavares, Lasvegassun.com
Boulder City is soon to be home to yet another large solar plant, thanks to Sempra Generation receiving final approval to sell solar energy generated in the Eldorado Valley to a California utility.
The company received approval from the California Public Utilities Commission today to sell energy to California’s Pacific Gas and Electric. Sempra will begin construction next month on a 48-megawatt solar thin film power plant, an expansion of its existing 10-megawatt solar plant located near a Sempra natural gas plant along Highway 95.
The two solar plants combined will create the nation’s most powerful solar photovoltaic array, outdoing Nellis Air Force Base’s 14-megawatt photovoltaic array by dozens of megawatts.
The new Boulder City plant will take at least a year to build and will employ more than 200 construction workers and electricians during the building phase, said Sempra President Michael Allman.
“It will be a mix of job types,” Allman said. “Some are for trained electricians but some of the work is basic construction work: installing posts in the ground and installing brackets to hold the panels. … We expect to fill the vast majority of the jobs locally.”
This will be the first solar project built since Sempra completed its 10-megawatt array last December. There are several other projects planned, but most would be on federal land which has a longer permitting process.
The solar energy corridor in Boulder City is owned by the city and is already zoned for solar energy development allowing for fast tracked permitting.
“The land was zoned and ready to go,” Allman said. “We just entered into a lease and we’re off and running. You can’t compare that to BLM land that’s similarly situated with the flat land and the transmission lines, the permitted process is much more complicated and a lot slower.”
Largest solar panel plant in US rises in Florida
By Christine Armario, Associated Press Writer (from Yahoo.com)
ARCADIA, Fla. – Greg Bove steps into his pickup truck and drives down a sandy path to where the future of Florida’s renewable energy plans begin: Acres of open land filled with solar panels that will soon power thousands of homes and business.
For nearly a year, construction workers and engineers in this sleepy Florida town of citrus trees and cattle farms have been building the nation’s largest solar panel energy plant. Testing will soon be complete, and the facility will begin directly converting sunlight into energy, giving Florida a momentary spot in the solar energy limelight.
The Desoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center will power a small fraction of Florida Power & Light’s 4-million plus customer base; nevertheless, at 25 megawatts, it will generate nearly twice as much energy as the second-largest photovoltaic facility in the U.S.
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Solar mecca
Plans to build three large energy plants on the Carrizo Plain could turn SLO County into a nationwide pioneer — but the proposals aren’t without critics, who say the industrial uses would cause irreparable harm to the area’s environment and wildlife
By David Sneed, sanluisobispo.com
San Luis Obispo County could become the nation’s leader in solar energy if three large-scale commercial solar plants are approved to start operating near the Carrizo Plain National Monument.
Two are photovoltaic plants that use solar panels to convert sunlight into electricity. According to the Solar Energy Industry Association, they would be the two largest photovoltaic systems in the world.
The third would also be the world’s largest of its kind: a solar thermal plant that uses the sun’s heat to drive electrical steam generators.
The plants could be online as early as 2013. Together, they would produce 977 megawatts of power, enough electricity to serve more than 100,000 homes. Not only are the plants large, they are also on track to be some of the first to come online, said Sue Kateley, executive director of the California chapter of the Solar Energy Industry Association.
“San Luis Obispo County could be the first to see the actual shovels in the ground,” she said.
Several factors are driving this unprecedented growth of solar power.
One is Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s ambitious goal of having 33 percent of the state’s power come from renewable sources by 2020. State and federal tax breaks also encourage the quick development of renewable energy sources.
All three plants are still in the planning phase with state and county officials processing construction applications, but little seems to stand in the way of their eventual approval. Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has signed contracts to purchase all the power they will produce.
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