HOOPER, Colo.-
With the sun glinting off the shovels, Xcel Energy broke ground Monday on a $60 million solar power plant designed to supply enough electricity to power 1,500 homes.
The 8-megawatt photovoltaic plant in the San Luis Valley about 130 miles south of Denver will be the largest solar plant for civilian use in the country, backers said.
“The energy generated from this facility will be clean and prevent harmful carbon emissions from entering the atmosphere,” Gov. Bill Ritter said.
Ritter said the solar plant in the sunny, wide-open San Luis Valley was another step toward his campaign goal of making Colorado the renewable energy capital of the nation.
Speaking under a tent that was flapping and creaking in the wind, Ritter joked that a wind farm should be the next project for the valley.
The plant is being built by SunEdison which will sell the power to Xcel. Electricity from the 82-acre plant will be used by the Minneapolis-based utility’s southern Colorado customers. Karen Hyde, a managing director for resource planning for Xcel, said the plant will help reduce the amount of power generated from coal-powered and natural gas plants elsewhere in the state.
Two other companies are also looking at building even larger plants in the valley, said Tom Plant, of the Ritter’s energy office. Next month work will begin on a wind farm in Logan County in northeastern Colorado.
Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., who also attended the groundbreaking, said the nation’s commitment to renewable energy is stronger now than it was in the 1970s and 80s, due to concern for the environment and national security. He said that’s good for the San Luis Valley, where he grew up.
“Here in the valley we mark what is the beginning of what is going to be a sustained effort over time,” Salazar said.
The valley is one of the state’s poorest regions, but its flat, open spaces and plentiful sun make it an ideal place to produce solar power.
Chris Cisneros of Antonito, who lost his job last year at a mine after 37 years there, considered taking a job operating equipment at gas wells. That would have required him to stay away from home during the week so he was happy to find a job running heavy equipment for the solar project.
“It’s nice being part of history,” he said.
With a background as an industrial electrician, he hopes he can find more opportunities at the solar plant.
A solar plant planned in Nevada will be larger than the Hooper plant but will be used to generate power for the Air Force. The Colorado plant is expected to be the largest producing power for a public utility.
The plant will help Xcel meet Colorado’s new mandate that utilities get at least 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources like wind and the sun by 2020. Voters originally set the standard at 10 percent—which Xcel is on track to meet this year—and state lawmakers doubled the amount this year.
