SunEdison to build, run five 10MW solar power plants for Xcel unit in New Mexico

Dec 30, 2009 - Tom Cheyney - PV-tech.org

SunEdison will design and construct five ground-mounted solar photovoltaic power plants that will generate a total of 50MW (AC) in New Mexico for Southwestern Public Service, a regional operating company of Xcel Energy. The five 10MW sites will be located in Lea and Eddy counties in the southeastern part of the state and will be fully operational by the end of 2011, the companies said.

In total, the installations will generate enough power for more than 10,000 homes in their first full year of operation, which will go toward Xcel's efforts to comply with New Mexico's renewable portfolio standard. The RPS requires that regulated electric utilities meet 15% of their electricity needs by 2015, and 20% by 2020, through renewable energy sources.

The five installations will be built, financed, and maintained by SunEdison (a subsidiary of MEMC), under a 20-year solar power services agreement with Xcel, which will buy the power generated by the plant.

The PV system is expected to produce more than 2 billion kWh of solar energy over the life of the agreement.

The financial terms of the agreement, start date and timeline for construction, and information about the solar modules and balance of systems components to be deployed have not been disclosed.