Copper Mountain Solar Facility

Copper Mountain Solar Facility
Copper Mountain Solar 1 (at left)
Country United States
Location Boulder City, Nevada
Coordinates 35°47′N 114°59.5′W / 35.783°N 114.9917°W / 35.783; -114.9917Coordinates: 35°47′N 114°59.5′W / 35.783°N 114.9917°W / 35.783; -114.9917
Status Operational
Construction began January 2010
Commission date December 1, 2010
Construction cost $141 million (copper mountailn 1 only - 58MW)
Owner(s) Sempra Generation
Solar field
Type Flat-panel PV
Power generation
Units operational 775,000 First Solar panels
Nameplate capacity 458 MW
Planned: 552 MW
Capacity factor 24%
Annual net output 1,086 GWh

The Copper Mountain Solar Facility is a 458 MWp[1] solar photovoltaic power plant in Boulder City, Nevada.[2] Sempra Generation announced on December 1, 2010 that it had finished phase 1 of the project and the facility was generating electricity. When the facility entered service, it was the largest photovoltaic plant in the U.S. at 58 MW.[3][4]

The expected output of 100 GW·h/year[5] from Copper Mountain Solar Facility phase 1 has been sold to Pacific Gas & Electric under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA).[2] Power generated from phase 2 has been sold to Pacific Gas & Electric under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA).[6] Power generated from phase 3 is sold to the Southern California Public Power Authority.

History

Sempra Generation built the plant from January 2010 to December 1, 2010,[3] at a cost of about $141 million.,[7] although it appears this is just for 48 MW expansion.

At its construction peak more than 350 workers were installing the 775,000 First Solar panels on the 450-acre (180 ha) site.[2][4]

An expansion of the facility by more than 200 MW was approved in 2010.[3] On August 4, 2011, Sempra announced a plan to expand the facility by 92 MW to be online in January 2013 and another 58 MW to be added by 2015.[8]

Copper Mountain Solar 3 is the third phase of the Copper Mountain Solar complex. Construction on the 250 MW solar project began in 2013 and was completed in early 2015, with a formal dedication ceremony on 30th April 2015.[9] This stage is capable of generating enough electricity to power about 80,000 homes.[10]

Copper Mountain Solar 4 is the fourth phase of the Copper Mountain Solar complex. Construction on the 94 MW expansion project is scheduled to commence in 2015, creating about 350 construction jobs at peak, with completion expected by year-end 2016.[11]

Units

Solar Facility Units
Unit Capacity (MW)[12] Commissioning Construction cost ($m) Owner PPA PPA length
Unit 1[12]58 MWDec 2010$141mSempra U.S. Gas & PowerPacific Gas & Electric25yrs
Unit2[13][4][14]92 MWlate 2012Sempra U.S. Gas & Power & Consolidated Edison DevelopmentPacific Gas & Electric25yrs
Unit2 ext.58 MW2015Sempra U.S. Gas & Power & Consolidated Edison DevelopmentPacific Gas & Electric25yrs
Unit3[15][16]250 MWmid-2015Sempra U.S. Gas & Power & Consolidated Edison DevelopmentSouthern California Public Power Authority20yrs
Unit4[17][18]94 MWend-2016(e)Sempra U.S. Gas & PowerSouthern California Edison (SCE)20yrs from 2020

Production

Generation (MW·h) of CM10 [19]
YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecTotal
2008 826 826
2009 4167272,1362,4722,8632,1022,4862,8822,3861,5731,063556 21,661
2010 2995541,3671,7462,4742,9202,2562,8452,6521,6061,529898 21,146
2011 9711,3011,6312,2752,5122,8742,1032,4691,7651,7001,041903 21,546
2012 5567261,0481,6192,3732,4512,1722,1322,4262,3561,9091,477 21,245
2013 1,1521,4121,7362,0152,1692,2081,7091,7061,6781,9511,3271,312 20,375
2014 9731,0171,4661,5451,8282,0961,8351,9952,0662,0931,7791,177 19,869
2015 9941,3941,8082,0451,8742,0641,9121,8791,7331,5301,4561,196 19,885
Total146,553
Generation (MW·h) of CM48 [20]
YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecTotal
2010 1,6902,4123,9184,3055,3946,6705,387 29,776
2011 7,7568,0779,24910,35010,99210,6369,23110,1648,5589,1657,1476,719 108,044
2012 7,5647,4869,4149,66811,08110,6389,4229,0299,5079,1807,3206,069 106,378
2013 7,2907,9869,32010,15610,50410,1958,7698,8708,8879,3206,8637,091 105,251
2014 7,3557,1259,6339,79610,45410,1318,7849,1719,1468,9887,6725,201 103,456
2015 6,5737,8079,35910,1479,2049,6399,0529,2508,9477,9947,5496,415 101,936
2016 5,9158,3388,9338,6198,6969,6519,9639,1579,0287,9937,0965,669 99,058
Total653,899
Generation (MW·h) of Copper Mountain Solar 2 [21]
YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecTotal
2012 5,7519,41613,85714,64815,56912,825 72,066
2013 15,53216,97119,87921,46022,27622,44819,45019,40219,39720,11214,94915,059 226,935
2014 15,74215,52120,50920,72322,23922,23419,59020,14320,61420,04316,62811,000 224,986
2015 15,81322,84732,60635,63933,53335,90334,06534,14332,69629,52428,18019,300 354,249
2016 21,56130,43032,34730,88535,50035,86536,91332,99233,12429,48625,88320,357 365,343
Total1,243,579
Generation (MW·h) of Copper Mountain Solar 3 [22]
YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecTotal
2014 3,78911,03014,73320,02523,15330,47029,67122,417 155,288
2015 33,16545,41455,58360,85557,69761,21356,92056,16451,52844,90143,55035,437 602,427
2016 33,30449,48953,82053,38862,61762,24060,81257,12153,93047,42440,08331,626 605,854
Total1,363,569

See also

References

  1. ↑ Copper Mountain Solar I
  2. 1 2 3 America's Largest PV Power Plant Is Now Live (December 6, 2010), Renewable Energy World.
  3. 1 2 3 "Copper Mountain Solar, the Largest Photovoltaic Solar Plant in the U.S." Solar Thermal Magazine. Retrieved April 11, 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 Shine, Conor (March 20, 2012). "Five things you should know about Copper Mountain Solar before President Obama's visit". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
  5. ↑ "PG&E Contracts With Sempra Generation For More Solar Power" (Press release). Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). July 27, 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  6. ↑ "Copper Mountain Solar 2 - Sempra Renewables". semprausgp.com. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  7. ↑ Goldberg, Delen (April 3, 2011). "Questions emerge over tax breaks for solar project". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved August 19, 2011.
  8. ↑ Sempra to expand Copper Mountain solar plant, Reuters, Aug 4, 201
  9. ↑ "SoCalGas Newsroom". mediaroom.com. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  10. ↑ "Copper Mountain Solar 3 - Sempra Renewables". semprausgp.com. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  11. ↑ "Copper Mountain Solar 4 - Sempra Renewables". semprausgp.com. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  12. 1 2 "facility details".
  13. ↑ "facility details".
  14. ↑ "Copper Mountain Solar 2 - Sempra Renewables". semprausgp.com. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  15. ↑ "facility details".
  16. ↑ "Copper Mountain Solar 3 - Sempra Renewables". semprausgp.com. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  17. ↑ "facility details".
  18. ↑ Copper Mountain Solar 4
  19. ↑ "CM10, Monthly". Electricity Data Browser. Energy Information Administration. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
  20. ↑ "CM48, Monthly". Electricity Data Browser. Energy Information Administration. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
  21. ↑ "Copper Mountain Solar 2, Monthly". Electricity Data Browser. Energy Information Administration. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
  22. ↑ "Copper Mountain Solar 3, Monthly". Electricity Data Browser. Energy Information Administration. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
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