Arizona, US based electric utility Salt River Project (SRP) has revised its utility scale solar power capacity target to be achieved by 2025 to now reflect a commitment of 2.025 GW. This is more than double, or to be exact, 1.025 GW more than the 1 GW it aimed to achieve by 2025 under a declaration issued in November 2018 (see Arizona Utility To Add 1 GW Solar By 2025). Doubles
The utility claims this increase in its commitment is driven in part by dedicated customer demand for new renewables, comprising 450 MW increase by a single commercial customer that wants to meet its renewable energy commitments. The customer was not identified.
All the renewable energy it plans to purchase under the raised commitment will come from solar energy projects developed in Arizona or on the Navajo Nation, for eventual use by SRP commercial and residential customers.
Currently, the utility touts 648 MW of utility scale solar plants online or contracted and under development across the state and will add more than 1.375 GW of newly contracted solar power by 2025 to reach the 2.025 GW target. The community based not-for-profit water and energy company said it is already in the process of procuring the 1.025 GW additional solar capacity from solar developers interested in building new projects in Arizona.
SRP said it is examining programs to allocate the new solar capacity to various customer groups, including community solar for residential customers.
It believes the addition of 2.025 GW of solar power will bring down CO2 emissions by more than 10.4 million tons.
"Doubling solar purchases over the next four years supports our shared goals with our customers to be as proactive as possible to reduce our collective carbon footprint while maintaining our reliability and affordability," said SRP's CEO and General Manager Mike Hummel.