CAP Diversifies Power Portfolio with Solar Energy
For full article, see Know Your Water News
By Nick Walter
Whether it’s a farmer, botanist, or fisherman navigating a river, sometimes the best business asset is that perpetual, thermonuclear explosion we know as the sun.
Arizonans enjoy more peak sun hours than any state in the nation, and harnessing that power is just what Central Arizona Project has done, agreeing to purchase 20 years of power from Origis Energy’s new AZ Solar 1 generation facility.
The site located near the western Arizona town of Salome has more than 90,000 solar panels that can power around 10,000 homes. Good thing, too: It takes significant power for CAP to lift Colorado River water nearly 3,000 feet from Lake Havasu to the canal’s terminus south of Tucson.
During a ribbon-cutting celebration on Jan. 30, CAP board members toured the 210-acre field, and congratulated Origis Energy on the facility that will provide CAP with 30-megawatts of solar energy under the power purchase agreement approved by the CAWCD Board in June of 2018.
“We’re excited about this partnership with Origis that brings renewable supplies to CAP’s power portfolio,” CAP Operations, Power and Engineering Director Darrin Francom said. “In an ongoing effort to support the delivery of a reliable water supply, and in a cost-effective manner, we will continue evolving our diverse power resource portfolio.”