An Arizona water and power utility has announced it will partner with a developer of large-scale solar and energy store projects in building a solar plant on private land northwest of Flagstaff.
The Salt River Project said Wednesday that the CO Bar Solar plant will be built by Enlight Renewable Energy Ltd. and construction is expected to start in 2023. The plant is scheduled to be commercially operational in 2024.
The plant will deliver 400 megawatts of renewable energy, enough power to meet the needs of 80,000 homes while offsetting 1 billion pounds of carbon dioxide emissions annually, the SRP said.
“The CO Bar power plant is an incredible clean energy resource that will support SRP customers and help us take a significant step toward our decarbonization goals,” said Mike Hummel, SRP general manager and CEO.
With the CO Bar project and others, nearly 50% of the retail energy delivered to customers will come from carbon-free sources by 2025, the SRP said. The utility intends to reach 65% by 2025 and 90% in 2050.
SRP is the largest electricity provided in metro Phoenix, serving over 1 million customers. It’s also a major water supplier.
