Tucson Electric Power (TEP) and military and federal officials have dedicated a 17.2 MW solar array at Fort Huachuca, Ariz.
TEP owns and operates the array, which is hosted by the U.S. Army base and is expected to supply up to 25% of its power.
The array was completed in December 2014. E.ON provided engineering, procurement and construction services. The system is linked to an existing TEP substation, and any excess output flows back into the company's local grid for use by other customers.
‘This system provides Fort Huachuca with a secure source of clean renewable power at no additional cost,’ says David G. Hutchens, TEP's president and CEO. ‘We worked closely with leaders at the base, the Pentagon and the U.S. Army's Office of Energy Initiatives to develop a unique solar solution for a very valuable TEP customer.’
TEP says that because it is combining its output with grid resources to serve the base under existing rates, the system helps the Army work toward its goal of deploying one GW of renewable energy resources by 2025 without increasing the base's energy costs.