Tucson Electric Power (TEP) will go ahead with its plan to develop 33MW of new solar generation capacity following approval from Arizona’s Corporation Commission.
The utility plans to build a new 25MW ground mounted photovoltaic facility at Tucson Water site, owned and operated by Fotowatio Renewable Ventures.
Tuscon Electric will be able to buy power from an under-development 5MW concentrating solar power (CSP) plant to be owned and operated by Bell Independent Power.
The plant will use parabolic mirrors to focus sunlight on a heat transfer and storage system to generate pressurised vapour to drive a turbine.
TEP will also build 3.4MW of company-owned solar PV arrays to meet Arizona’s renewable energy standard that requires utilities to source 15% from clean power projects by 2025.
