Mesquite Solar project

Mesquite Solar

Company type	Power generation facility
Industry	Solar energy
Founded	2011
Headquarters	Arlington , United States
Area served	Arizona, United States
Products	Photovoltaic power, energy storage
Owner	Sempra Generation, Consolidated Edison Development Inc.

The Mesquite Solar project is a photovoltaic power facility with a capacity of 512.5 megawatt (MW_AC), located in Arlington, Arizona, within Maricopa County, Arizona. Ownership is held by Sempra Generation alongside Consolidated Edison Development Inc. The initial development phases incorporated more than 2.1 million crystalline silicon solar modules provided by Suntech Power. The expansions known as Mesquite 4 and 5 contributed an additional 112.5 MW of solar power capacity along with 70 MW of energy storage using batteries.

Project details

Phase 1 construction commenced in 2011 on a 3.6 km² area adjacent to the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, reaching completion in January 2013. This phase has a rated capacity of 150 MW and operates under a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E). Zachry Holdings served as the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor. The investment for Phase 1 was roughly $600 million, with an expected annual electricity generation exceeding 350 gigawatt-hours (approximately averaging 40 MW), resulting in an estimated reduction of about 200,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year.

Phases 2 and 3, delivering capacities of 100 MW and 150 MW respectively, were finalized in December 2016. These stages incorporated single-axis tracking technology to boost energy output.

Mesquite 4 is a solar installation with a capacity of 52.5 MW complemented by 10 MW of battery storage and began operations in January 2024. Mesquite 5, featuring a 60 MW solar array paired with an equal amount of battery storage capacity, has been operational since July 2023.

Electricity production

Total Facility Generation
(Annual Sum from All Units Below)

Year	Total Annual MW·h
2011	2,956
2012	233,105
2013	413,611
2014	408,218
2015	397,599
2016	442,565
2017	1,145,231
2018	1,145,816
2019	1,109,029
Average (2017–2019)	1,133,359

Generation (MW·h) for Mesquite Solar Phase 1 (150MW)

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
2011											1,711	1,245	2,956
2012	6,830	8,261	10,848	14,729	20,300	20,717	22,784	26,070	25,060	27,809	25,008	24,689	233,105
2013	26,897	31,203	35,698	37,963	39,751	39,487	38,113	36,261	35,489	38,806	27,362	26,581	413,611
2014	29,466	28,570	39,157	40,084	42,765	40,304	37,138	35,717	34,451	32,627	27,236	20,703	408,218
2015	20,029	30,905	37,089	40,474	40,419	37,689	35,962	36,967	33,285	31,139	29,199	24,442	397,599
2016	23,919	32,350	36,412	37,321	42,442	39,309	38,869	38,069	33,660	34,753	28,321	22,825	408,250
2017	18,968	23,127	39,542	43,048	45,896	51,628	31.943	39.425	40.513	37.184	22.096	20.363	413.734
2018	23.598	25.234	32.580	38.786	48.925	47.774	42.202	42.713	41.106	29.406	25.482	17.198	415.004
2019	21.519	21.215	33.843	40.244	42.179	47.752	42.113	45.612	36.747	37.825	21.338	16.959	407.345

Generation (MW·h) for Mesquite Solar Phase 2 (100MW with tracking)

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
2016						13.255	13.255
2017 15.016 ||16.794 ||26.698 ||29.176 ||31.992 ||32.486 ||29.490 ||28.681 ||26.392 ||23.857 ||15.275 ||15.040	290.897
2018 17.201 ||18.569 ||24.484 ||28.562 ||32.739 ||31.729 ||29.461 ||29.075 ||26.015 ||16.891 ||15.900 ||14.396	285.023
2019 16.090 ||14.280 ||19.916 ||21.340 ||22.983 ||30.941 ||29.656 ||29.898 ||23..634 ||23..723 ||13..615 ||9..971	256..047

See also

• Solar power in Arizona

Generation (MW·h) for Mesquite Solar Phase 3 (150MW with tracking)