Three Cedars Solar Project is a 210 MW_AC (265 MW_p)

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 ...

consisting of three units extending about 15 miles northwest of

Cedar City, Utah Cedar City is the largest city in Iron County, Utah, United States. It is located south of Salt Lake City, and north of Las Vegas on Interstate 15. It is the home of Southern Utah University, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Utah Summe ...

. The project was developed by

SunEdison SunEdison, Inc. (formerly MEMC Electronic Materials) is a renewable energy company headquartered in the U.S. In addition to developing, building, owning, and operating solar power plants and wind energy plants, it also manufactures high purity p ...

, built with its global team of partners, and commissioned in September 2016. The electricity and renewable energy credits are being sold to

Rocky Mountain Power PacifiCorp is an electric power company in the western United States. PacifiCorp has two business units: # Pacific Power, a regulated electric utility with service territory throughout Oregon, northern California, and southeastern Washington. # ...

under three separate 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 ...

Project details

The project consists of three separate units distributed on private land along the headwaters of Iron Springs Creek at a sunny and cool elevation near 6,000 feet. Planning was initiated by the independent renewable energy developer

First Wind First Wind is an independent renewable energy company. It develops and operates utility-scale power projects in the United States. It employs more than 220 workers. Headquartered in Boston, the company developed and operated renewable energy pr ...

(founded 2002) which began expanding into photovoltaic energy around 2012. First Wind and its extensive portfolio of assets in western Utah were acquired by SunEdison and its TerraForm Power

yield co A yield co or yieldco is a company that is formed to own operating assets that produce a predictable cash flow, primarily through long term contracts. Separating volatile activities (such as development, R&D, construction) from stable activities of ...

in November 2014. Beginning construction at the time was the 20.2 MW Seven Sisters Project, a dispersed set of ~3 MW facilities throughout Beaver and Iron counties. To finance the construction of Three Cedars, SunEdison entered into a joint venture with

Dominion Resources Dominion Energy, Inc., commonly referred to as Dominion, is a North American power and energy company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia that supplies electricity in parts of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina and supplies natural gas t ...

. The resulting entity, Dominion Renewable Energy, utilized $80 million from SunEdison and $320 million from Dominion to start construction in September 2015. The two companies also previously entered a joint venture to construct the 320 MW Four Brothers Project, which includes the three co-located 80 MW Escalante units in Beaver County and the 80 MW

Enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterprise ...

unit in Iron County, on about the same timeline. Construction of Three Cedars progressed simultaneously at all three sites, created an estimated 250 local construction jobs, and was completed by October 2016. Along with the electricity to power more than 36,000 homes, it is expected to produce $17 million in property and income taxes for the region over 20 years. The project is operated and maintained by

Swinerton Renewable Energy Swinerton is a commercial construction company that provides services in the United States for commercial office, retail, multi-family residential, hospitality, healthcare, education, energy, and the entertainment sectors. The company also provide ...

. SunEdison filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on April 21, 2016, but was able to complete the project on time with its receipt of $300 million in bankruptcy debt financing. On September 13, 2016 the company was forced to sell its stake in the completed facilities in a

fire sale A fire sale is the sale of goods at extremely discounted prices. The term originated in reference to the sale of goods at a heavy discount due to fire damage. It may or may not be defined as a closeout, the final sale of goods to zero inventory ...

NRG Energy NRG Energy, Inc. is an American energy company, headquartered in Houston, Texas. It was formerly the wholesale arm of Northern States Power Company (NSP), which became Xcel Energy, but became independent in 2000. NRG Energy is involved in ene ...

was the successful bidder.

Electricity production

References

{{Solar power in the United States Photovoltaic power stations in the United States Solar power stations in Utah Buildings and structures in Iron County, Utah Energy infrastructure completed in 2016

Project details

Electricity production

See also

References