Lightsource bp, in collaboration with Xcel Energy and McCarthy Building Companies, has brought the 293-megawatt (MWdc) Sun Mountain solar project into commercial operation.
According to Lightsource, the project is supplying more than 53,000 homes with clean, inexpensive electricity while reducing over 400,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions yearly, which is the same as removing 87,000 fuel-burning cars from the road for a year.
The second project that Lightsource bp has undertaken in the city with electricity sales to Xcel, the initiative represents a total private investment of $500 million in Colorado’s clean energy infrastructure.
The solar project was also a component of Xcel Energy’s 2018 resource plan and supports the organisation’s current Colorado Energy Plan, which aims to provide electricity from about 80 per cent renewable sources and reduce carbon emissions by 85 per cent by 2030, all the while keeping customer service affordable and dependable.
“This collaboration benefits the community, the state and all our customers by bringing more clean, low-cost energy to our system, while meeting our commitment to our communities as we lead the clean energy transition,” said Robert Kenney, president of Xcel Energy – Colorado.
To date, Lightsource said it has installed and is currently maintaining almost 3,000 acres of shortgrass prairie at both of its solar farms in Pueblo, the Sun Mountain and Bighorn Solar projects, enhancing the properties’ capacity to store carbon while fostering wildlife habitat.
“As long-term members of the Pueblo community, we look forward to delivering affordable clean energy for decades while continuing to expand our investment in Colorado to help power the state’s low carbon future,” Kevin Smith, CEO of Lightsource bp noted.
Meanwhile, McCarthy Building Companies served as the project’s Engineer, Procure and Construct (EPC) contractor, installing 636,990 ultra-low carbon solar panels from Arizona’s First Solar and intelligent solar trackers from New Mexico’s Array Technologies.
“Colorado has made clear its desire to be at the forefront of developing and delivering renewable energy. Sun Mountain brings us another step closer to that goal while also generating hundreds of clean energy jobs within the state, many of which result in longer term career builders,” said Justin Peterson, vice president of operations at McCarthy Renewable Energy & Storage.
