Enterprise Solar Farm

The Enterprise Solar Farm is an 80 MWAC (105 MWp) photovoltaic power station located about 25 miles west of Cedar City, Utah in Iron County. The project was developed by SunEdison, built by Mortenson Construction, and commissioned in September 2016.[1] The electricity is being sold under a 20-year power purchase agreement to Rocky Mountain Power which serves customers in Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming.[2][3][4]

Enterprise Solar Farm
CountryUnited States
LocationIron County
Coordinates37°38′28″N 113°36′45″W
StatusOperational
Construction beganJuly 2015
Commission dateAugust 2016
Construction cost~$163 million
Owner(s)Dominion Renewable Energy
Operator(s)Swinerton Renewable Energy
Solar farm
TypeFlat-panel PV
single-axis tracking
Site area650 acres (2.63 km2)
Power generation
Nameplate capacity105 MWp, 80 MWAC
Capacity factor32.0% (average 2017)
Annual net output224 GW·h, 340 MW·h/acre

Project details

Planning was initiated by the independent renewable energy developer First Wind (founded 2002) which began expanding into photovoltaic energy around 2012.[5] The Enterprise Solar Farm comprises a minority of the 320MW Four Brothers Project, which also includes the three co-located 80 MW Escalante Solar Project units located about 5 miles north of Milford, Utah in Beaver County. The land area for each 80 MW unit ranges from 600 to 700 acres.[2]

First Wind and its extensive portfolio of assets in western Utah were acquired by SunEdison and its TerraForm Power yield co in November 2014.[6] Beginning construction at the time was the 20.2 MW Seven Sisters Project, a dispersed set of ~3 MW facilities throughout Beaver and Iron counties.[7][8] To finance construction of Four Brothers, SunEdison entered into a joint venture with Dominion Resources. The resulting entity, Dominion Renewable Energy, utilized $150 million from SunEdison and $500 million from Dominion to start construction in July 2015.[9] Likewise, the two companies extended their joint venture to construct the 210 MW Three Cedars Project, which consists of three similarly sized facilities dispersed to the west of Cedar City, on about the same timeline.[10]

Four Brothers was built by Mortenson Construction.[11] SunEdison provided about 1.3 million crystalline silicon solar panels from its team of international suppliers. Work progressed simultaneously at all four sites, employed an estimated 500 workers, and was completed in September 2016.[1] Along with the electricity to power about 90,000 homes, Four Brothers is expected to produce $66 million in property and income taxes for the region over 20 years.[9] The completed facilities are operated and maintained by Swinerton Renewable Energy.[12]

SunEdison filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on April 21, 2016, but was able to complete the project on time with its receipt of $300 million in bankruptcy debt financing.[13] On September 13, 2016 the company was forced to sell its stake in the completed facilities in a fire sale. NRG Energy was the successful bidder.[14]

Electricity production
Generation (MW·h) of Enterprise Solar [15]
YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecTotal
2016 19,44422,35525,67521,53921,33316,31913,31410,288 140,267
2017 9,05913,38720,04822,01926,24428,69221,37620,48718,31319,26213,25112,128 224,267
2018
Average Annual Production (years 2017-) --->224,267

See also

References
  1. "530 MW-AC of solar projects come online in Utah". pv-magazine-usa.com. November 3, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  2. "PacifiCorp approved for 320MW of new solar in Utah". generationhub.com. October 10, 2014. Archived from the original on February 4, 2019. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  3. "Utah Solar Projects". Dominion Energy. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  4. "EIA Electricity Data Browser - Utah". eia.gov. US Energy Information Administration. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  5. "First Wind, Rocky Mountain Power Agree PPA for 'Four Brothers' Solar Development". solarbuildermag.com. June 19, 2014. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  6. "SunEdison, TerraForm Buy First Wind for $2.4B to Become Renewable Project Giant". greentechmedia.com. November 17, 2014. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  7. "SunEdison Breaks Ground On 22.6 MW Seven Sisters Solar Power Plants In Utah". April 8, 2015. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  8. "Seven Sisters Projects Come to Stellar Completion". November 13, 2015. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  9. "SunEdison Partners with Dominion for 420-MW "Four Brothers" PV Project in Utah". energytrend.com. August 13, 2015. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  10. "SunEdison, Dominion Partner on 265 Megawatt Three Cedars Solar Project in Utah". utahpulse.com. September 9, 2015. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  11. "Four Brothers Solar Project". mortenson.com. Mortenson. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  12. "Swinerton Renewable Energy - Projects". Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  13. Bomey, Nathan (April 21, 2016). "SunEdison files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy". USA TODAY. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  14. "NRG snatches up 2.1 GW of SunEdison projects". pv-magazine-usa.com. September 13, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  15. "Enterprise Solar, Monthly". Electricity Data Browser. Energy Information Administration. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
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