Iron County’s Appaloosa Solar project goes online, begins selling its power
The Appaloosa Solar 1 project west of Cedar City in Iron County has begun commercial operation, according to a release from its owner, Greenbacker Capital Management of New York City. The conversion marks the second Greenbacker solar farm in Utah to begin selling power.
According to Greenbacker, a renewable asset management company, the 240-megawatt Appaloosa plant has more than twice the generating capacity of its sister plant, the Graphite Solar facility in Carbon County. Appaloosa is now Greenbacker’s largest operational clean energy asset.
“Bringing Appaloosa online is a milestone both for GCM as a business and for the energy transition as a whole, representing a new way to build the future of sustainable power,” said Ben Tillar, a principal at Greenbacker. “It was accomplished through the dedication of our ongoing project partners and the support of the Iron County community, to whom we are grateful for hosting this project.”
Many of the partnerships involved with Appaloosa began on the Graphite Solar project, which was developed, built and commissioned by rPlus, with Sundt Construction delivering the engineering, procurement and construction. Like Graphite, Appaloosa has a long-term power purchase agreement in place with utility PacifiCorp.
“Having collaborated on Graphite Solar, we entered this project with the confidence that our partners foster an environment of efficiency, execution, excellence and trust,” said Luigi Resta, rPlus president and CEO. “We are incredibly proud to reach this milestone as we contribute another significant project to Utah’s diverse energy landscape.”
The project also invests in the local community and economy with the Local First-Appaloosa Solar 1 Scholarship fund. Greenbacker, rPlus, Gardner Group and Sundt sponsor the $120,000 scholarship program, under which awards are made to Southern Utah University students who plan to remain local while pursuing their career goals after graduation or certificate completion. Additionally, project construction relied on many local vendors, delivering revenue to the area and supporting approximately 250 construction-related green energy jobs.