Utility-scale developer SolarReserve has been awarded its final Certificates of Environmental Compatibility from the Arizona Corporation Commission for its 150MW Crossroads Solar Energy Project to be built near Gila Bend. The approval includes the associated transmission line connecting the CSP project to Arizona Public Service’s transmission grid.
This final unanimous approval follows this past December’s unanimous decision (11-0) from the Arizona Power Plant and Transmission Line Siting Committee to grant the certificates
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Located on privately owned and actively cultivated land west of the town Maricopa County, the project will supply approximately 450,000MWh annually of electricity to Arizona customers, according to the company. The system will employ a concentrating solar power approach: the advanced molten salt, power tower technology developed by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (a division of United Technologies Corporation), which provides the ability to store 10 hours of solar energy and generate electricity on demand, even after the sun goes down.
The developers say that Crossroads will create more than 450 construction jobs during the two-year construction period and up to 5,000 direct and induced jobs, including offsite supplier and supporting activities. The project has a capital cost in excess of $500 million and is expected to generate economic development in Gila Bend and throughout the region.
It will employ at least 45 full-time, permanent operations staff throughout the 30-year project operating life and has an annual operating budget of up to $10 million per year.
