City of Peoria Press Release
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Valley Forward Honors Solar Partnership in Peoria
Project with 60 Dishes Is First Commercial-Scale Facility of Its Kind
10/7/2010
PEORIA, Ariz. (Oct.
7, 2010) – Peoria’s partnership with Tessera Solar and Salt River Project on
a 60-dish solar field earned the city a 2010 Valley Forward Environmental
Excellence Award.
The 1.5-megawatt
Maricopa Solar project located in southern Peoria received an Award of Merit for
environmental technologies in the public sector. The SunCatcher™ dishes sit just
north of SRP’s Agua Fria Generating Station at 75th and Northern avenues.
Completed in December 2009, Maricopa Solar was the first commercial-scale solar
facility built using the innovative SunCatcher solar-thermal technology
constructed by Scottsdale-based Stirling Energy Systems.
Tessera Solar operates
the Maricopa Solar project under a 10-year deal. SRP purchases the solar energy
generated at the site, which helps the utility fulfill its goal of meeting 15
percent of its retail energy needs with sustainable energy by 2025. In addition,
the project has allowed SRP to get first-hand experience with the SunCatcher
technology, its performance and integration into the grid. The Maricopa Solar
partnership contributed to long-term renewable-energy development and ties into
Peoria’s goals of reducing the environmental impact of local projects and
building responsibly for the future.
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