SunEdison, Inc. (NYSE: SUNE) announced late last week it had closed financing and commenced construction of the 156 megawatt Comanche Solar project in Pueblo, Colorado.
The project was acquired by the world’s largest renewable energy developer in July last year.
One of SunEdison’s biggest projects to date, the facility will be the largest solar farm east of the Rocky Mountains. Comanche will generate more than 300 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually – enough to power around 30,000 Colorado households – and will avoid more than 216,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually.
Electricity generated by the solar power plant will be sold to Public Service Company of Colorado, a subsidiary of Xcel Energy, under a 25-year power purchase agreement (solar PPA) with SunEdison.
“It demonstrates that large-scale solar power can play an increasingly larger role in our customers’ energy future at a competitive price point,” said David Eves, president of Public Service Company of Colorado, which has 1.4 million customers.
The solar facility is expected to be completed during the first half of next year and ongoing operation and maintenance will be performed by SunEdison Services.
Colorado was the first US state to enact a renewable portfolio standard by ballot when voters approved the Colorado Renewable Energy Requirement Initiative in November 2004. A lawsuit alleging Colorado’s renewable energy standard violated the U.S. Constitution was launched, however last month a federal appeals court rejected the action.
Colorado’s renewable targets vary depending on the generation sector. Investor-owned electric utilities must source 30% of their generation from renewables by 2020, with 3% coming from distributed generation.
Colorado is also coal, oil and gas country; but last year the state’s coal production dropped to a 20-year low due to poor market conditions and environmental restrictions.
Colorado installed 67 MW of solar electric capacity in 2014, ranking it 13th nationally according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. The state currently ranks ninth in the nation for total installed solar – 412MW.
According to the US Energy Information Administration, 64% of the electricity generated in state in 2013 came from coal, 20% from natural gas, and 17% from renewables.
