Dec 20 2010
A ground-breaking ceremony was conducted at the Woolworth Community Library in Jal, New Mexico, for a 54 MW capacity Solar unit, which is to be built on five different locations in Eddy and Lea Counties in New Mexico.
Representatives from SunEdison and Xcel Energy along with other state and local dignitaries began construction work on one the sites and also talked about the project to the community members. The plant is expected to start operations by the end of 2011. The five locations would contain utility scale PV solar power arrays and are predicted to offer almost 112 kWh of clean solar energy in its first year. This project would assist Xcel Energy to fulfill the renewable portfolio standards set by New Mexico wherein at least 15% of the electricity should be from renewable sources by 2015 and 20% by 2020.
According to Riley Hill, CEO and President of Southwestern Public Service Company, which is a part of Xcel, the company was famed for its environmental awareness, reliability, innovations and cost-effective energy. This project with SunEdison would propel the company to the forefront of the renewable energy segment in the New Mexican region.
SunEdison would build, finance and maintain the five installations as per a 20 year agreement with Xcel, which would purchase the solar energy produced by the power plants. Job creation and economic growth would be the other benefits of this clean energy operation. Caroll Leavell, State Senator was all praise for both the companies for siting the project in Southeast New Mexico. According to him, these counties are dependent on nuclear, gas and oil energies mainly and this project would also add to the nation’s energy security. He was especially appreciative of the fact that one of the five units was to be deployed on Woolworth Trust Property, which finances the Woolworth Library and the Jal Senior Citizen’s Center.
Tom Martin, President of the Carlsbad Department of Development, noted that Eddy County, the City of Carlsbad and the Carlsbad Department of Development had all united to facilitate the SunEdison Project. He further mentioned that both the counties were eagerly anticipating the completion of the first phase of the project in Carlsbad. According to Lisa Haridson, CEO and President of the Economic Development Corporation of Lea County, both the leaders and the Economic Development Corporation of the Lea County had worked industriously with Xcel and SunEdison to make this project a successful reality. She also noted that it was an honor to have one of the country’s biggest solar projects in the EnergyPlex. The 54 MW installation would generate almost 2 million MWh of clean energy for a period of twenty years sufficient to power 192,000 US homes for one year.