Photo: ContourGlobal
A 450-megawatt (MW) solar farm with a massive battery system is now under construction in Arizona – and Tesla has already lined up about 90% of its expected electricity output.
ContourGlobal held a groundbreaking ceremony on October 6 for Project Sterling, around 20 miles north of Lake Havasu City in Mohave County. The project will cover more than 2,000 acres in the Mojave Desert, and it’s expected to come online in 2028.
Sterling will pair more than 760,000 solar panels with over 300 battery storage containers. Its solar panels will have a combined capacity of 509 MW DC, with 450 MW of AC capacity after conversion for the grid.
The batteries will deliver up to 360 MW and store around 1.4 gigawatt-hours of electricity – enough to discharge at full power for about four hours. ContourGlobal says the solar and storage will enable Sterling to deliver clean electricity for up to 16 hours a day.
The system uses lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries with liquid cooling and integrated fire protection.
Once it’s online, Sterling is expected to generate more than 1.1 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity annually. Tesla’s long-term power purchase agreement covers around 1 TWh per year, plus the associated renewable energy certificates, which is 90% of the Arizona solar and battery storage plant’s expected annual output. Sterling will become ContourGlobal’s largest renewable energy asset worldwide.
The electricity also has a route into California. Sterling will connect to the Western Area Power Administration’s grid and has secured transmission rights into the California Independent System Operator’s electricity market.
ContourGlobal expects construction to employ around 400 workers through 2028. Local crews will handle civil works, roads, and site logistics, including a new 5.2-mile (8.4-km) access road connecting the project to historic Route 66.
The privately financed project has also secured an equity bridge loan from a group of international banks to help fund ContourGlobal’s investment during construction.
Read more: California gives the green light to balcony solar
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