The Mesquite Solar project is a 512.5-

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

(MW _AC) photovoltaic power plant in Arlington,

Maricopa County Maricopa County () is a county in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census the population was 4,420,568, or about 62% of the state's total, making it the fourth-most populous county in the United States and ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, owned by Sempra Generation and Consolidated Edison Development Inc. The first three phases of the project were constructed using more than 2.1 million

crystalline silicon Crystalline silicon or (c-Si) is the crystalline forms of silicon, either polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si, consisting of small crystals), or monocrystalline silicon (mono-Si, a continuous crystal). Crystalline silicon is the dominant semicon ...

solar panels made by Suntech Power. Mesquite 4 and 5 added another 112.5 MW and 70 MW of battery storage.

Project details

Construction of Phase 1 over a 3.6 km² site adjacent the

Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station The Palo Verde Generating Station is a nuclear power plant located near Tonopah, Arizona about west of downtown Phoenix. Palo Verde generates the most electricity of any power plant in the United States per year, and is the largest power pl ...

began in 2011 and was completed in January 2013.Sempra Completes first phase of Mesquite Solar Project
/ref> It has a

nameplate capacity Nameplate capacity, also known as the rated capacity, nominal capacity, installed capacity, maximum effect or gross capacity,megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s (MW) that is contracted through a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with

Pacific Gas and Electric Company The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is an American investor-owned utility (IOU). The company is headquartered at Kaiser Center, in Oakland, California. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to 5.2 million households in the norther ...

(PG&E). The EPC contractor was Zachry Holdings. Phase 1 cost about $600 million, is projected to generate more than 350 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually (an average of about 40 MW), and will offset roughly 200,000 tons of carbon emissions each year. MesquiteSolarOne Aug2012

Phase 2 (100MW) and Phase 3 (150MW) were both completed in December 2016.Table 6.3. New Utility Scale Generating Units by Operating Company, Plant, Month, and Year
Electric Power Monthly, U.S. Energy Information Administration, February 24, 2017 The panels are mounted on single-axis trackers to increase electricity production. Mesquite 4 is a 52.5 MW solar farm with 10 MW of batteries. Mesquite 5 is a 60 MW solar farm with 60 MW of batteries. Mesquite 4 came online in January 2024 while Mesquite 5 came online in July 2023.

Electricity production

References

{{Solar power in the United States Solar power stations in Arizona Photovoltaic power stations in the United States Buildings and structures in Maricopa County, Arizona Sempra Energy

Project details

Electricity production

See also

References