SunEdison, Inc. (NYSE: SUNE) has announced it has commenced construction preparations for a 22.6 megawatt solar farm project in Southern Utah.
The Seven Sisters project incorporates seven separate solar power plants, four of which are located in Beaver County and three in Iron County.
“We are excited to be breaking ground today for the Seven Sisters solar project,” said Paul Gaynor, Executive Vice President of North America Utility and Global Wind at SunEdison. “These solar power plants will provide significant economic and environmental benefits for the people of Utah. We look forward to continuing to work closely with Beaver and Iron counties, Rocky Mountain Power, and the State of Utah.”
Utah’s Governor, Gary R. Herbert, said the projects will generate construction job opportunities and tax revenue for Iron and Beaver Counties.
Power generated by the facilities, which will be enough to supply more than 4,000 Utah homes, will be purchased by Rocky Mountain Power under separate 20-year power purchase agreements (solar PPA) with SunEdison. Ongoing operation and maintenance of the solar power stations will be performed by SunEdison Services.
In other recent SunEdison news, the company said it recently won three awards at the Game Changer Awards Gala, an event hosted by the Canadian Solar Industry Association (CanSIA), which took place in Toronto, Canada on March 26, 2015.
SunEdison was the recipient Solar Developer award for being the leading developer in the Canadian market. Last year, SunEdison’s Canadian arm interconnected 108 megawatts of solar capacity, bringing Ontario’s total to more than 260 MW of operating solar projects. The company says another 56 MW of capacity is currently under construction.
SunEdison Director of Business Development Jonathan Frank won the Emerging Solar Leader award and SunEdison Vice President and Country Manager Michelle Chislett won the first-ever Solar Power Woman of Distinction Award.
Also recently announced by the company was the appointment of Julie Blunden to the role of Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of SunEdison . Ms. Blunden had previously served as Chief Executive Officer of ClimateWorks, Executive Vice President at SunPower and has also held executive positions at KEMA, Green Mountain Energy Company and a decade of experience at AES.
