Arizona Building Trades Council News Update

More solar power generating activity is coming to Yuma County with the announcement that the permitting process has begun for a new solar photovoltaic facility - the Hyder II Solar Power Plant.

Construction on Hyder II, a 14-megawatt facility, is scheduled to begin in April with commercial operations expected to be online by December 2013, announced Arizona Public Service Co.

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Court panel rejects challenge to Tohono O'odham land near Glendale

September 11, 2012

Howard Fischer

Arizona Daily Star

Congress did not act illegally in allowing a tribe to create reservation land on the edge of Glendale, a federal appeals court

ruled today.

In a split decision, the majority of the three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments by attorneys for the state and Glendale that a 1986 law allowing the Tohono O'odham Nation to acquire reservation land infringes on the sovereign rights of the state. The judges said there is no basis for such an argument.

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City Council gives support for one Sunzia route

September 12, 2012

Wilcox Range News

With a unanimous vote last Tuesday by its City Council, Willcox has joined three other area government entities in their support of the SunZia Southwest Transmission Project and its proposed 4B route.

It is an extra-high-voltage transmission project that will span about 500 miles between Arizona and New Mexico.

The project includes up to two new 500kV transmission lines and five electrical substations that will provide up to 3,000 megawatts of new capacity, according to SunZia Spokesman Ian Calkins.

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U.S. solar market spikes in second quarter

September 10, 2012

Dana Hull

Mercury News

Solar installations spiked in the second quarter of this year as large solar power plants came online, according to a report released Monday by GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association.

The amount of photovoltaic solar panels installed across the country reached 742 megawatts in the second quarter, up from 512 megawatts in the first quarter. More solar was installed in the second quarter than in all of 2009.

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Arizona Solar Project Delivers 250 MW to the Grid
September 19, 2012
Energy Online
Aqua Caliente Solar Project

First Solar, Inc. recently announced that the Agua Caliente solar project reached a peak electric generating capacity of 250 MW (AC) connected to the grid. The Arizona project is claimed to be the largest operating solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant in the world. The total project electric generating capacity will be 290 MW when it is completed in 2014.

First Solar designed and is constructing the project using its advanced thin-film PV modules and will operate and maintain the facility for owners NRG Energy and MidAmerican Solar. The power output will be delivered to Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) through a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA).

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Defense Dept. awards $23.5M in contracts for work at S. Ariz. Bases

September 19, 2012

Inside Tucson Business

A pair of contracts worth $23.5 million will bring new facilities and technology improvements to Southern Arizona military installations.

A $14.3 million contract will fund construction of a new building for the 55th Electronic Combat Group at Davis-Monthan. The new 50,478-square-foot structure will house simulators and training operations for the unit.

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Latest Utility-Scale Solar Power Developments in Arizona

September 24, 2012

GetSolar

In their efforts to comply with state laws and bring photovoltaic energy to a greater number of people, utilities in Arizona have begun work on what are expected to be among the largest and most advanced solar power plants in the United States.

In Yuma County, the the far southwest corner of the state, is the current world's largest solar power plant. The Agua Caliente plant has a total capacity of 250 megawatts, and when completed it is expected to have a total capacity of 290 megawatts with 400 inverters, according to Greentech Media.

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County to drop appeal on Rosemont water permit
September 20, 2012
Tony Davis
Arizona Daily Star

Pima County plans to drop its appeal of an April decision by the state's environmental agency approving a groundwater pollution prevention permit for the proposed Rosemont Mine.

In a rare moment of harmony on the mine issue, the county, Rosemont Copper and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality have submitted a proposed settlement of the appeal to the state Water Quality Appeals Board, which was to have decided on the appeal.

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Arizona State University to Host Third Arizona Solar Summit
September 20, 2012
Red Orbit

ASU logo

ASU SkySong, along with ASU LightWorks, will host the third Arizona Solar Summit on October 9 and 10. Solar Summit III: Game Changers (Summit III) will focus on the state's efforts to propel Arizona to a position of global leadership in the dynamic and growing solar industry. This free, two day event will begin with guided bus tours of Arizona's cutting edge solar sites and leading solar industry projects, and will culminate in a day of engaging speakers and sessions that will discuss the trajectory of Arizona's solar industry and the impact it will have on the state's economy.

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