Courtesy of the Las Cruces Bulletin, by Marvin Tessneer
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has designated a solar energy zone in Doña Ana County that is expected to support utility companies’ efforts to develop clean renewable energy.
The county facility is identified as the Afton Solar Energy Zone, which covers 29,964 acres and has the capability of generating 3,329 megawatts of electrical power, according to David Quick of the BLM public affairs service. The Afton area is in the southern part of the county where the Roadrunner solar generating plant is located and partially supplies electricity to El Paso Electric Co. (EPE).
“We are encouraged by the designation of the solar zone because it will give us a predictable energy source,” said Teresa Souza, EPE public information officer. Another partner in the solar zone is SunEdison Centennial, which has constructed a solar farm on 140 acres west of Las Cruces. The solar farm contains more than 48,000 MEMC high-performance photovoltaic modules. The panel farm was designed to produce more than 32 million kilowatt hours of clean solar energy during its first year of operation, according to SunEdison, a subsidiary and provider of MEMC Electronic Materials.
The centennial solar farm was constructed through a power-purchase agreement between SunEdison and EPE. SunEdison handled the construction and financing for the project and will oversee the operation and maintenance of the power plant during the 25-year contract period. EPE will purchase all energy produced at the solar farm, according to a SunEdison news release. The energy produced from the solar farm is expected to offset 1.1 billion pounds of carbon dioxide during the next 25 years.
Tom Shockley, EPE CEO, said of the solar farm: “This project highlights El Paso Electric’s commitment to advance the development of renewable energy resources and to be a leader in the solar industry. EPE continues to evaluate opportunities to invest in additional projects in the future to expand our renewable energy portfolio. Currently, EPE’s owned renewable energy projects and purchase power agreements represents almost 3 percent of the company’s net dependable generating capacity, which represents one of the largest percentages of renewable energy for a company of EPE’s size in the United States.”
SunEdison develops, helps finance, installs and operates distribution plants using photovoltaic technologies. Its projects deliver solar energy for utility customers. MEMC has been active in the research and development of silicon wafer technologies for more than 50 years. Through SunEdison, the company has been developing solar power projects throughout North America, according to MEMC.
