Juwi builds 500 megawatts of solar power in Colorado

Project developer Juwi from Wörrstadt in Rhineland-Palatinate is to build three new solar plants in the US state of Colorado. Together they will have an output of 506 megawatts. While the Spanish Peaks project in Los Alamos County in the south of the state with an output of 179 megawatts has been under construction since the end of last year, Juwi has now concluded negotiations on the sale of two further projects to the energy supplier Tri-State.

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One of the two solar parks is Axial Basin Solar. This is a 186-megawatt project in Moffat County in north-west Colorado, around 250 miles north-west of Denver. The plant is being built in the White River Electric Association service territory. The second plant operates under the name Dolores Canyon Solar. This generator will have an output of 141 megawatts and is being built in Dolores County, around 400 kilometres southwest of Denver. The plant will be connected to the Empire Electric Association grid.

Customers in four states

The two solar parks are due to be connected to the grid at the end of 2025. They will be operated by the non-profit wholesale electricity supplier Tri-State, based in Westminster, Colorado. The utility serves electric distribution cooperatives and members of public power districts in the four states of Colorado, New Mexico, Nebraska and Wyoming. Together with its member-owners, Tri-State supplies more than one million electricity consumers across nearly 200,000 square miles in the western US with sustainably generated electricity.

The goal: 50 per cent green electricity in the mix

The purchase of the two projects is a new path for the cooperative. This is the first time that the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association has purchased renewable energy projects to sell the electricity to its members.

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However, the purchase is an important milestone on the way to decarbonising Tri-State’s electricity mix. The goal is 50 per cent renewable energy in the supply area. ‘Our members now have ownership of solar at a competitive cost,’ explains Duane Highley, Managing Director of Tri-State.

Purchase made possible by IRA

The opportunity to purchase the solar systems is part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which the government in Washington passed in 2022. This allows non-profit electric cooperatives to receive a direct payment of federal tax credits for renewable energy. This enables the cooperatives to invest directly in the ownership of renewable generation capacity. Prior to the passage of the IRA, Tri-State and other electric cooperatives generally could not directly benefit from federal renewable energy tax incentives. This was previously only available to for-profit, investor-owned utilities and independent power producers.

Plant ownership for cooperatives

‘I’ve worked for years to give rural electric cooperatives like Tri-State access to federal clean energy tax credits,’ said Michael Bennet, Democratic Senator for the state of Colorado. “The passage of the historic Inflation Reduction Act made this possible for the first time, finally allowing them to own their own renewable energy projects. This progress will help Tri-State provide tremendous benefits to the rural communities it serves and support Colorado’s continued leadership in our nation’s transition to a clean energy economy.”

Additional PPAs finalised

In addition to the purchase of the two projects in Moffat and Dolores County, Tri-State has entered into three additional direct power purchase agreements (PPAs) for solar projects that will be connected to the grid by the end of 2024. These include the Spanish Peaks solar farm, which is already 50 per cent complete. By the end of 2025, Tri-State will supply its members with electricity from eight plants with a combined DC capacity of 870 megawatts and AC capacity of 680 megawatts. (su/mfo)