Escalante Solar Project

The Escalante Solar Project is a 240 MWAC (315 MWp) photovoltaic power station located about 5 miles north of the town of Milford in Beaver County, Utah. The project was developed by SunEdison, built by Mortenson Construction, and commissioned in September 2016.[1] The power is being sold under three separate 20-year power purchase agreements to Rocky Mountain Power which serves customers in Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming. At 1900 acres (3.0 sq miles), it is the largest grouping of photovoltaic generators in the state of Utah.[2][3][4]

Escalante Solar Project
CountryUnited States
LocationBeaver County
Coordinates38°30′03″N 113°01′48″W
StatusOperational
Construction beganJuly 2015
Commission dateAugust 2016
Construction cost~$488 million
Owner(s)Dominion Renewable Energy
Operator(s)Swinerton Renewable Energy
Solar farm
TypeFlat-panel PV
single-axis tracking
Site area1,900 acres (7.69 km2)
Power generation
Nameplate capacity315 MWp, 240 MWAC
Capacity factor29.7% (average 2017)
Annual net output624 GW·h, 330 MW·h/acre

Project details

The project is located adjacent to the 306 MW Milford Wind facility. Planning was initiated by the independent renewable energy developer First Wind (founded 2002) which began expanding into photovoltaic energy around 2012.[5] The Escalante project comprises the majority of the 320 MW Four Brothers Project, which includes the three co-located 80 MW Escalante units and the 80 MW Enterprise unit located 25 miles west of Cedar City, Utah in Iron County. The land area for each 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
Total Facility Generation
(Annual Sum from All Units Below)
YearTotal Annual MW·h
2016 277,275
2017 624,023
2018 619,088
Average (2017-2018) 621,556
Generation (MW·h) of Escalante Solar 1 [15]
YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecTotal
2016 12,22718,90420,25015,27011,1787,511 85,340
2017 8,35512,34618,48920,30624,20226,46019,71418,89416,88817,76412,22011,184 206,822
2018 10,61112,47916,13719,55622,53624,21821,10921,07620,25615,10512,4519,015 204,549
Average Annual Production (years 2017-2018) --->205,686
Generation (MW·h) of Escalante Solar 2 [16]
YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecTotal
2016 2,58418,38420,47520,16914,35411,0027,467 94,435
2017 8,45312,49118,70720,54524,48726,77219,94619,11617,08717,97312,36411,316 209,256
2018 10,79012,69016,40919,88622,91624,62721,46621,43220,59815,36012,6619,167 208,002
Average Annual Production (years 2017-2018) --->208,629
Generation (MW·h) of Escalante Solar 3 [17]
YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecTotal
2016 4,49620,20220,00419,71315,13810,7577,191 97,501
2017 8,40012,41318,58920,41624,33426,60419,82118,99616,98017,86012,28711,245 207,945
2018 10,71412,60016,29319,74622,75524,45421,31421,28120,45315,25212,5729,103 206,537
Average Annual Production (years 2017-2018) --->207,241

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. "Escalante Solar 1, Monthly". Electricity Data Browser. Energy Information Administration. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  16. "Escalante Solar 2, Monthly". Electricity Data Browser. Energy Information Administration. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  17. "Escalante Solar 3, Monthly". Electricity Data Browser. Energy Information Administration. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
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