Kit Carson Electric Cooperative (KCEC) has finalized an agreement with Torch Clean Energy to purchase and develop two new solar array and storage facilities for a total of 21 MW of additional solar capacity and 15 MW of storage capacity.
With the completion of these installations, KCEC will surpass the 35 MW required to meet its goal of 100% daytime solar energy – originally set for the year 2022 – up to nine months earlier than anticipated.
These new developments build upon the arrays that KCEC has installed over the past 12 years, creating a network of distributed energy resources throughout the KCEC service territory. Once complete, KCEC with have a total of 53 MW of renewable energy, including 38 MW of solar and 15 MW of storage capacity.
Earlier this year, KCEC and partner Guzman Energy issued a request for proposals for solar capacity and asked developers to propose projects that include both solar and storage. Torch proposed solar and storage capacity at two different facilities within the KCEC territory – Angel Fire and Taos Mesa Energy Facilities – that will exceed the capacity requested. The Angel Fire Energy Facility will deliver 6 MW of solar and 3 MW of storage capacity, while the Taos Mesa Energy Facility will deliver 15 MW of solar and 12 MW of storage capacity.
In addition to meeting KCEC’s daytime energy needs with solar energy, this development marks the first implementation of storage in the Kit Carson territory.
“Kit Carson aims to be the greenest co-op in the country. The addition of these two new solar arrays gives us almost 20 solar projects within our territory, making Taos and the surrounding areas the ‘Solar Capital of the World,’” says Luis Reyes Jr., CEO of KCEC. “The addition of storage is key in helping us provide reliable energy with added cost benefits to our members, and we are looking forward to completing these developments with Torch Clean Energy.”
Formed in 1944, Kit Carson is a member-owned electric distribution cooperative in northern New Mexico and is the second largest cooperative in the state. Kit Carson is one of 16 electric cooperatives that serve rural New Mexico communities, serving nearly 30,000 members in Taos, Colfax and Rio Arriba counties.
