Sandstone Solar, a 45MW PV plant in Arizona, has been officially opened by developer Spower and utility Salt River Project, which will buy power from the plant.
The single-axis tracker plant is built on a 121 hectare plot of land, using 182,000 Jinko Solar PV modules. Salt River Project, headquartered in neighbouring Utah, is buying all 45MW for 21 years through a power purchase agreement (PPA). Construction began in July last year, as PV Tech reported at the time.
Multinational banking and financial services corporation Wells Fargo provided tax equity financing for the project.
“We’re pleased to provide capital to further the next generation of clean energy technology and to support sPower in creating a more sustainable future,” Wells Fargo environmental finance executive Barry Neal said.
“Wells Fargo is dedicated to supporting environmentally beneficial projects like Sandstone Solar that have a direct, positive impact on our communities.”
Meanwhile, Salt River Project, which is community based and non-profit but nonetheless serves as many as one million customers, is aiming to meet 20% of its retail electricity requirements with renewables by 2020. According to the company, it is around 6% away from that goal as it stands.