The Boulder Solar project is a 150

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 station 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

Boulder City, Nevada Boulder City is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States. It is approximately southeast of Las Vegas. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population of Boulder City was 14,885. The city took its name from Boulder Canyon ( ...

. It was built in two phases by

SunPower SunPower is an American provider of photovoltaic solar energy generation systems and battery energy storage products, primarily for residential customers. The company, headquartered in San Jose, California, was founded in 1985 by Richard Swa ...

using its Oasis Power Plant system. The project is co-located with several other large

solar power Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic e ...

projects in the

Eldorado Valley Eldorado Valley, or El Dorado Valley, is a Great Basin valley in the Mojave Desert southeast of Las Vegas and southwest of Boulder City, Nevada. The valley is endorheic, containing the Eldorado Dry Lake. The Great Basin Divide, transects ridgelines ...

Facility details

The 100 MW Boulder Solar 1 began construction on 600 acres in December 2015, and went online in mid-December 2016. It uses 288,000 tracker-mounted panels manufactured by SunPower. It has an expected annual production of about 280 GWh and will provide Boulder City with $20 million in land lease payments over the 20-year term. Southern Power purchased a controlling (51%) interest in Boulder Solar 1 in November 2016. New Energy Solar purchased the remaining 49% interest in February 2018. The electricity is being sold to

NV Energy NV Energy is a public utility which generates, transmits and distributes electric service in northern and southern Nevada, including the Las Vegas Valley, and provides natural gas service in the Reno–Sparks metropolitan area of northern Nevada ...

under a 20-year

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 ...

. Along with

geothermal power Geothermal power is electrical power generated from geothermal energy. Technologies in use include dry steam power stations, flash steam power stations and binary cycle power stations. Geothermal electricity generation is currently used in 2 ...

and numerous smaller solar energy installations throughout the city, Boulder Solar 1 allowed

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

to operate all municipal services with

renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...

sources starting at the end of 2016. The 50 MW Boulder Solar 2, also constructed by SunPower, entered service in January 2017 with an expected annual production of 140 GWh. It is owned by American Electric Power and is also selling its electricity to NV Energy.

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...

motivated this construction phase of the project through the participation of its northern Nevada

data center A data center (American English) or data centre (British English)See spelling differences. is a building, a dedicated space within a building, or a group of buildings used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunic ...

s in th
NV GreenEnergy Rider opportunity

Electricity production

References

External links

NV Energy Renewable Energy 2015
{{Solar power in the United States Solar power in the Mojave Desert Photovoltaic power stations in the United States Buildings and structures in Clark County, Nevada Energy infrastructure completed in 2016 Solar power stations in Nevada 2016 establishments in Nevada

Facility details

Electricity production

See also

References

External links