Ground Broken on SunEdison's 8.22-MW PV Solar Plant in Colorado

[jpak]

http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=48245

A groundbreaking was held yesterday on an 82-acre tract in south central Colorado that will be the site for the Alamosa Photovoltaic Solar Plant, an 8.22-megawatt (MW) facility in Alamosa and San Luis Valley in Colorado. The solar plant is financed and will be built and maintained by SunEdison.

In a power purchase agreement (PPA) with SunEdison, Xcel Energy will buy the solar power the new facility generates when it is completed, which is scheduled for early 2008. When completed, the facility will generate 17,000 MW hours annually.

The plant marks an important start for Xcel Energy in meeting Colorado Amendment 37, which requires large electric utilities to generate 10 percent of their power through renewable energy sources by 2015. It will also help toward meeting Colorado's Renewable Energy Standard (RES) requiring utilities such as Xcel Energy to derive 20 percent of its power from renewable energy sources by 2020, which was signed into law by Colorado Governor Bill Ritter last March.

"This project could not be done without the support and commitment of Colorado citizens, Xcel Energy and SunEdison. As the first and only state to pass an RES by initiative, Colorado is a leader in today's renewable energy economy," said Governor Ritter.

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[Zenlitened]

1. Evergreen Solar of Massachusetts has upped their contract to supply cells

Not sure if its directly related to this project. SunEdison has used Kyocera panels in previous projects. Whatever the case... it's all very encouraging to see! :D

Evergreen Solar's New Contract with SunEdison Exceeds $500 M
Announcement brings Evergreen's total contract orders over $1 billion.

April 3, 2007
Marlboro, Massachusetts

Evergreen Solar, Inc., manufacturer of solar power products with its proprietary String Ribbon wafer technology, today announced an extension of its sales agreement with SunEdison.

The extension increases the total value of the contract to over $510 million, boosting the total value of Evergreen sales agreements announced in the past 16 months to more than $1 billion.

The initial $200 million agreement was announced in July 2006. Under the terms of the contract extension, Evergreen Solar will ship an additional $316 million of photovoltaic (PV) modules to SunEdison through 2011.

Link:
http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=47993