The McCoy Solar Energy Project is a 250

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units, International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), ...

(MW_AC)

photovoltaic power plant A photovoltaic power station, also known as a solar park, solar farm, or solar power plant, is a large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power system (PV system) designed for the supply of merchant power. They are different from most building- ...

near the city of

Blythe The name Blythe ( or ) derives from Old English ''bliþe'' ("joyous, kind, cheerful, pleasant"; modern ''blithe''), and further back from Proto-Germanic ''*blithiz'' ("gentle, kind"). People * Blythe (given name), including a list of people named ...

Riverside County, California Riverside County is a County (United States), county located in the southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most ...

. It occupies about 2,300 acres of mostly public land in the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...

. The construction uses CdTe thin film panels from First Solar, and the output is being sold to

Southern California Edison Southern California Edison (or SCE Corp), the largest subsidiary of Edison International, is the primary electricity supply company for much of Southern California. It provides 15 million people with electricity across a service territory of app ...

under a

power purchase agreement A power purchase agreement (PPA), or electricity power agreement, is a contract between two parties, one which generates electricity (the seller) and one which is looking to purchase electricity (the buyer). The PPA defines all of the commercial te ...

.McCoy Project Timeline
/ref> The project is located adjacent to the 235 MW Blythe Solar Energy Center, together forming a larger 485 MW complex. The 550MW

Desert Sunlight Solar Farm The Desert Sunlight Solar Farm is a 550 megawatt (MW AC) photovoltaic power station approximately six miles north of Desert Center, California, United States, in the Mojave Desert. It uses approximately 8.8 million cadmium telluride modul ...

is located approximately 40miles west in Riverside County. The 450 MW Desert Quartzite project by

First Solar First Solar, Inc. is an American manufacturer of solar panels, and a provider of utility-scale PV power plants and supporting services that include finance, construction, maintenance and end-of-life panel recycling. First Solar uses rigid thi ...

, which got preliminary approval in early 2020, is also in the area.

History

The project was initially proposed in early 2013 for a final capacity of 750MW, making it potentially one of the world's largest solar plants. The planning process through both state and federal agencies was placed on an expedited approval path. The first construction phase of 250MW started generating energy in August 2015, and reached its full capacity in June 2016. Completion of the remaining 500MW is pending identification of a buyer for the electricity.World's largest solar plant opens in Riverside County
''The Desert Sun'', February 10, 2015

Electricity Production

References

{{Solar power in the United States Solar power in the Mojave Desert Photovoltaic power stations in the United States Buildings and structures in Riverside County, California Solar power stations in California Energy infrastructure completed in 2016 2016 establishments in California NextEra Energy

History

Electricity Production

See also

References