Escalante Solar Project

Escalante Solar Project

Company type	Photovoltaic power facility
Industry	Renewable energy
Founded	September 2016 (2016-09)
Headquarters	Milford , United States
Area served	Utah, Idaho, Wyoming
Products	Electricity generation (solar power)
Number of employees	500 (construction phase)
Parent	NRG Energy (current owner)

Escalante Solar Project

The Escalante Solar Project is a photovoltaic power facility with a capacity of 240 MW_AC (315 MW_p), situated approximately 5 miles north of Milford, Utah within Beaver County, Utah. Developed by SunEdison and constructed by Mortenson Construction, it commenced operations in September 2016. The plant supplies electricity under three distinct 20-year power purchase agreements to Rocky Mountain Power, which services the states of Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming. Spanning 1,900 acres (3.0 square miles), it stands as Utah’s largest photovoltaic installation.

Project details

Located next to the 306 MW Milford Wind facility, this project originated from planning efforts by independent renewable energy developer First Wind, established in 2002, which began expanding into solar PV around 2012. The Escalante Solar Project constitutes the majority of the 320 MW Four Brothers Project, consisting of three adjacent 80 MW Escalante units alongside an 80 MW Enterprise unit positioned 25 miles west of Cedar City, Utah in Iron County. Each unit occupies between 600 and 700 acres.

In November 2014, SunEdison and TerraForm Power yield co acquired First Wind and its western Utah assets. At that point, the 20.2 MW Seven Sisters Project, a collection of roughly 3 MW dispersed facilities across Beaver and Iron counties, was under development. To fund the Four Brothers initiative, SunEdison entered into a joint venture with Dominion Resources, forming Dominion Renewable Energy. This partnership injected $150 million from SunEdison and $500 million from Dominion to initiate construction in July 2015. The collaboration also encompassed the 210 MW Three Cedars Project, which includes three similarly sized plants west of Cedar City following a comparable schedule.

Mortenson Construction was contracted to build Four Brothers. SunEdison provided nearly 1.3 million crystalline silicon solar panels sourced from international manufacturers. Construction took place concurrently at all four locations, employing approximately 500 workers, and reached completion in September 2016. The project’s electricity output is sufficient to supply power to roughly 90,000 residences and is projected to generate $66 million in combined property and income taxes for the area over two decades. Operations and maintenance are managed by Swinerton Renewable Energy.

Despite filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on April 21, 2016, SunEdison finalized the project on schedule through $300 million in bankruptcy-related debt financing. Subsequently, on September 13, 2016, SunEdison divested its ownership interest in the completed assets via a fire sale, with NRG Energy emerging as the winning bidder.

Electricity production

Total Facility Generation
(Annual Sum from All Units)

Year	Total Annual MW·h
2016	277,275
2017	624,023
2018	619,088
2019	613,269
Average (2017-2019)	618,793

Generation (MW·h) of Escalante Solar 1

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
2016							12,227	18,904	20,250	15,270	11,178	7,511	85,340
2017	8,355	12,346	18,489	20,306	24,202	26,460	19,714	18,894	16,888	17,764	12,220	11,184	206,822
2018	10,611	12,479	16,137	19,556	22,536	24,218	21,109	21,076	20,256	15,105	12,451	9,015	204,549
2019	10,669	11,242	16,748	19,716	20,990	23,610	22,348	22,750	18,779	18,459	11,473	8,362	205,146
Average Annual Production (2017-2019)													205,506

Generation (MW·h) of Escalante Solar 2

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
2016						2,584	18,384	20,475	20,169	14,354	11,002	7,467	94,435
2017	8,453	12,491	18,707	20,545	24,487	26,772	19,946	19,116	17,087	17,973	12,364	11,316	209,256
2018	10,790	12,690	16,409	19,886	22,916	24,627	21,466	21,432	20,598	15,360	12,661	9,167	208,002
2019	10,593	11,162	16,628	19,575	20,840	23,441	22,188	22,587	18,645	18,327	11,391	8,303	203,681
Average Annual Production (2017-2019)													206،980

Generation (MW·h) of Escalante Solar 3

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
2016						4،496	20،202	20،004	19،713	15،138	10،757	7،191	97،501
2017	8،400	12،413	18،589	20،416	24،334	26،604	19،821	18،996	16،980	17،860	12،287	11،245	207،945
2018	10،714	12،600	16،293	19،746	22،755	24،454	21،314	21،281	20،453	15،252	12،572	9،103	206،537
2019	10،633	11،204	16،690	19،648	20،918	23،529	22،271	22،672	18،715	18،396	11،433	8٬334	204٬442
Average Annual Production (2017-2019)													206٬308

See also

• Solar energy developments in Utah
• Compilation of Utah power generation facilities