Article courtesy of greentechmedia.com
By Eric Wesoff
A 5-megawatt project in the world of photovoltaics doesn’t always warrant news coverage.
But a 5-megawatt project in concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) is a big deal and we’ve learned of an under-the-radar deployment that is currently online and producing power.
The Hatch, NM CPV project would seem to hold title as the largest CPV system in North America. Amonix is the supplier of the CPV equipment.
I spoke with Jim Hayhoe, an economic consultant to the Village of Hatch and he confirmed that the project is indeed online. According to Hayhoe, the project came online on July 2 with 2.7 megawatts and as of a week ago was generating 4.1 megawatts. Construction for the project started in mid-January and was completed on schedule, according to Hayhoe.
The Hatch CPV project employs Amonix CPV systems, although Amonix isn’t commenting publicly, and sits on 39 acres in New Mexico’s Hatch Industrial Park, 7 miles west of the Village of Hatch, New Mexico. The 5-megawatt system uses 81 Amonix trackers and is being built and operated by NextEra Energy Resources, a unit of NextEra Energy.
Each of the Amonix modules puts out about 60 kilowatts.
Blattner Energy of Albuquerque, NM is the EPC and construction contractor for the solar project. The project employed approximately 60 people during the construction phase. We’ve contacted Blattner for comment.
Electricity generated from the projects will be sold to El Paso Electric under a Purchase Power Agreement (PPA) to help meet New Mexico’s Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard.
The project was funded by Industrial Revenue Bonds.
GTM Research has written the definitive analysis of the CPV market — here’s a link to the report. The CPV Ecosystem chart shown below is excerpted from that report.
You can visit the working CPV site and attend The Hatch Chile Festival scheduled for Labor Day. Hatch lays claim as the home of the world’s best chili pepper and can now add home to the largest CPV project. At least until the 30 megawatt Alamosa project comes online.
