The Tucson Water Department, the City of Tucson, Ariz., and SunPower Corp. have signed a project agreement under which SunPower will design and construct a 1 MW ground-mounted solar power system on city-owned, formerly agricultural land located within Tucson Water Department's underground water storage and recovery facility, located approximately 20 miles west of downtown Tucson.
The project, which is expected to be complete in March 2011, will double the solar power capacity hosted by the city, SunPower notes.
SunPower was selected by the city through a competitive process and has entered into a power purchase agreement with the city of Tucson to finance this project. Under the terms of the agreement, Wells Fargo will finance and own the system that SunPower designs, builds, operates and maintains. Trico Electric, the utility serving the site, will provide additional funding via its SunWatts renewable energy incentive program.
The city will host the system and buy the electricity produced by it. Trico Electric Cooperative will purchase the renewable energy credits associated with the system. The cost to the city for the solar energy will be competitive with its current bulk retail rate.
SOURCE: SunPower Corp.
