Arizona Public Service’s (APS) Cotton Center solar plant has officially come online in Gila Bend, Arizona. The 17MW facility was developed and constructed by Solon and brings APS’ total renewable portfolio to 930MW. Constructed on 145 acres, and using over 93,000 single-axis tracking PV panels that were placed in 1,662 rows, the project is expected to fulfill the energy needs of over 4,000 APS customers.
“With AZ Sun, APS is investing in 100MW of solar photovoltaic power plants across the state, providing a substantial boost to Arizona’s growing solar industry by financing the projects – the end result is a win for our company, a win for our customers and a win for Arizona,” said Pat Dinkel, APS VP of power marketing, research planning and acquisition. “Cotton Center is the culmination of a great partnership between APS, Solon and the Town of Gila Bend.”
Gila Bend is also the location of APS’s first AZ Sun facility, Paloma, which was brought into commercial operation in August. Additionally, just outside Gila Bend, the 250MW Solana Generation Station is being constructed, which is expected to be in commercial operation by mid-2013.
