Copper Mountain Solar Facility


The Copper Mountain Solar Facility is a 552 megawatt solar photovoltaic power plant in Boulder City, Nevada developed by Sempra Generation. It uses approximately 9 million cadmium telluride modules made by the US thin-film manufacturer First Solar. When the first unit of the facility entered service on December 1, 2010, it was the largest photovoltaic plant in the U.S. at 58 MW.
It is co-located with the 64 MW Nevada Solar One, 150 MW Boulder Solar, and 300 MW Techren Solar projects in the Eldorado Valley, thus forming a more than 1 gigawatt solar generating complex. By comparison, generating capacity at the nearby Hoover Dam is about 2 GW.

History

completed the 10 MW demonstration plant named "El Dorado Solar" near the existing El Dorado natural gas-fired power station and the Nevada Solar One concentrated solar power plant in December 2008.
It was the company's first bold venture into utility-scale solar generation. A 48 MW second phase named "Copper Mountain" was constructed from January to December 2010 at a cost of about $141 million.
At its construction peak more than 350 workers were installing the 775,000 First Solar panels on the site.
Based on its successes with the first unit, a second 150 MW unit was approved adjacent to the site in late 2010 and a construction plan announced On August 4, 2011. The first 92 MW phase came online in January 2013, and the 58 MW expansion phase was eventually completed in early 2015.
Construction on the third, and thus far largest, 250 MW unit began in 2013 and was completed in early 2015, with a formal dedication ceremony on 30 April 2015. This unit is located about 5 km north of the prior grouping, and is capable of generating enough electricity to power about 80,000 homes.
Copper Mountain Solar 4 is the fourth unit of the Copper Mountain Solar complex. Construction on the 94 MW unit, adjacent to the grouping of Units 1 and 2, commenced in 2015. It also sustained about 350 construction jobs at peak, and completed year-end 2016. In contrast to prior units, the rows of panels run north to south, with solar trackers tilting the rows from east to west in order to maximize energy production.
The 250 MW Copper Mountain 5 unit is currently in the planning and approval stage of development.

Facility unit details

UnitCapacity
MWAC		Complete
Date		CoordinatesOwnerPPA
Recipient		PPA
Length
Unit 1
Pilot
10 MWDec 2008Sempra U.S. Gas & PowerPacific Gas & Electric20yrs
Unit 1
Phase 2
48 MWDec 2010Sempra U.S. Gas & PowerPacific Gas & Electric20yrs
Unit 2
Phase 1
92 MWDec 2012Sempra U.S. Gas & Power & Consolidated Edison DevelopmentPacific Gas & Electric25yrs
Unit 2
Phase 2		58 MWApr 2015Sempra U.S. Gas & Power & Consolidated Edison DevelopmentPacific Gas & Electric25yrs
Unit 3
250 MWmid-2015Sempra U.S. Gas & Power & Consolidated Edison DevelopmentSouthern California Public Power Authority20yrs
Unit 4
94 MWDec 2016Sempra U.S. Gas & PowerSouthern California Edison 20yrs

Electricity production

YearTotal Annual MW·h
2008826
200921,661
201050,922
2011129,590
2012199,689
2013352,561
2014503,599
20151,078,497
20161,122,818
20171,342,662
20181,364,969
Average 1,353,815

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecTotal
2008826826
20094167272,1362,4722,8632,1022,4862,8822,3861,5731,06355621,661
20102995541,3671,7462,4742,9202,2562,8452,6521,6061,52989821,146
20119711,3011,6312,2752,5122,8742,1032,4691,7651,7001,04190321,546
20125567261,0481,6192,3732,4512,1722,1322,4262,3561,9091,47721,245
20131,1521,4121,7362,0152,1692,2081,7091,7061,6781,9511,3271,31220,375
20149731,0171,4661,5451,8282,0961,8351,9952,0662,0931,7791,17719,869
20159941,3941,8082,0451,8742,0641,9121,8791,7331,5301,4561,19619,885
20166263,6621,1771,2411,5891,6001,8011,7571,7151,4231,3691,10119,061
20178038921,5401,6961,8982,0021,9372,1282,0061,9511,2711,19719,321
201893011921,5271,9062,0162,3612,0112,0341,9561,5341,19992819,595

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecTotal
20101,6902,4123,9184,3055,3946,6705,38729,776
20117,7568,0779,24910,35010,99210,6369,23110,1648,5589,1657,1476,719108,044
20127,5647,4869,4149,66811,08110,6389,4229,0299,5079,1807,3206,069106,378
20137,2907,9869,32010,15610,50410,1958,7698,8708,8879,3206,8637,091105,251
20147,3557,1259,6339,79610,45410,1318,7849,1719,1468,9887,6725,201103,456
20156,5737,8079,35910,1479,2049,6399,0529,2508,9477,9947,5496,415101,936
20165,9158,3388,9338,6198,6969,6519,9639,1579,0287,9936,3295,66998,291
20174,2064,6758,0688,8839,94110,48510,14311,14710,50610,2216,6586,270101,204
20184,7546,0977,8099,74910,31012,07510,28510,40010,0047,8436,1314,746100,205

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecTotal
20125,7519,41613,85714,64815,56912,82572,066
201315,53216,97119,87921,46022,27622,44819,45019,40219,39720,11214,94915,059226,935
201415,74215,52120,50920,72322,23922,23419,59020,14320,61420,04316,62811,000224,986
201515,81322,84732,60635,63933,53335,90334,06534,14332,69629,52428,18019,300354,249
201621,56128,30332,34728,76329,91435,86536,91332,99233,12429,48626,00420,358356,633
201715,22616,92229,20632,15735,98837,95536,72040,35138,03237,00224,10322,699365,361
201817,43522,36028,63835,75237,81044,28037,71738,14036,68928,76322,48517,406367,474

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecTotal
20143,78911,03014,73320,02523,15330,47029,67122,417155,288
201533,16545,41455,58360,85557,69761,21356,92056,16451,52844,90143,55035,437602,427
201633,30449,48953,82053,38862,61762,24060,81257,12153,93047,42440,08331,626605,854
201734,30634,42354,97559,30364,27464,48655,44056,39052,76854,33038,72938,337607,761
201837,91342,31151,66459,51562,89764,85957,55156,24256,14048,83242,39833,544613,866

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecTotal
20164,90314,02013,52610,53042,979
201710,34911,50219,85121,85724,46125,79824,95827,42725,85125,15016,38315,428249,015
201812,51816,05320,56025,66927,14631,79127,07927,38326,34120,65016,14312,496263,829