SunEdison, Inc. today announced that it has signed agreements to construct and install three new utility-scale solar power plants in southern Utah with a total capacity of 262MW DC.
PacifiCorp will purchase the electricity through three 20-year power purchase agreements according to its obligation under the federal Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act. The contract will be approved by the Utah Public Service Commission to ensure a fair price for PacifiCorp customers.
"This is a great day for Utah," said Paul Gaynor, Executive Vice President North America Utility and Global Wind at SunEdison. "These solar power plants will create jobs and provide valuable tax revenue to the people of Utah – they are a testament to the contribution solar can make to our energy future. We thank our local partners in Beaver and Iron County for hosting these projects and we look forward to continued development in the state."
The three solar power plants are located in Iron County in southern Utah, and include the 63MW DC Granite Mountain Solar West plant, the 100MW DC Granite Mountain Solar East plant and the 99MW DC Iron Springs Solar plant. Construction of the power plants is expected to begin in the fall of 2015 with commercial operations expected in 2016.
These projects are on the Call Right Projects List for TerraForm Power, Inc. SunEdison anticipates offering these projects to TerraForm Power for investment upon completion. Operation and maintenance of the solar power plants will be performed by SunEdison Services.