The city of Denver is seeking out companies to build a new municipally-owned solar power plant that would generate enough electricity to provide power to more than 1,000 homes.
The plant would be built at an industrial portion of the Stapleton development near Havana Street and Smith Road.
Companies will have until March to respond to the city’s request that they submit proposals for building the plant. The city and county of Denver will be responsible for overall management of the plant.
Darryl Winer, Denver’s director of utilities, said the plant will be one of the first municipally-owned power plants in an urban area in the nation.
Winer said Xcel Energy will buy the electricity generated by the plant to pass on to consumers. In keeping with the voter-approved Amendment 37, Xcel will pay an increased price for the electricity generated by the power plant. That revenue will provide more than enough money to pay for construction and maintenance of the plant, Winer said.
“It will pay for itself,” he said.
Amendment 37 requires large utilities to get 10 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2007.
The new solar plant would hook into a distribution network that will provide Xcel a place to buy solar energy to provide to its customers.
Winer said the city plans to award a bid for construction of the solar plant by mid-June. The plant should be up and running by late summer of 2007, he said.
“Reducing our use of petroleum and coal-based energy is one of the primary goals of Denver’s Sustainable Development Initiative,” Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper said in a prepared release. “With the construction of this plant, will will continue our progress toward making the Denver metro area a national leader in renewable energy.”
Staff writer Christopher N. Osher can be reached at 303-820-1747 or at cosher@denverpost.com.
