by Brianna Crandall — April 13, 2011—Fluor Corporation announced April 4 that SunPower Corporation awarded the firm the construction of the 20-megawatt (MW) Copper Crossing photovoltaic solar power plant on 144 acres of formerly private agricultural land in Pinal County, Arizona. The project will mark the first deployment of SunPower’s Oasis Power Plant block.
Iberdrola Renewables is developing Copper Crossing and will own and operate it. The company will sell the electricity under a long-term contract to utility provider Salt River Project for distribution on the region’s utility grid. The project will create employment opportunities and provide revenue for schools, health, fire and other critical services in Pinal County.
The plant will use the SunPower Oasis Power Plant product, a fully integrated, modular solar power block that is engineered to rapidly and cost-effectively deploy utility-scale solar projects while optimizing land use. Each power block integrates the SunPower T0 Tracker with SunPower’s high-efficiency, E19 series solar panels, pre-manufactured system cabling, and other advanced features. The power block kits are shipped pre-assembled to the job site for rapid field installation, and offer the highest capacity factor and the most reliable long-term performance, says SunPower.
The plant, which began construction December 2010, is expected to create approximately 200 jobs during construction, and will be fully operational in 2011.
