Arizona Water Provider Approves Record-Low-Cost Solar PPA to Replace Coal

[jpak]

https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/arizona-water-provider-approves-lower-cost-solar-ppa-to-replace-coal#gs.Abx2pZY

The Central Arizona Project, a legislated municipal water agency that provides water to 5 million Arizonans, voted on Thursday to receive some power from a new 30-megawatt solar installation. Its main source of power, the coal-fired Navajo Generating Station, is set to close in 2019.

The 20-year power-purchase agreement with developer AZ Solar 1 would provide power at $24.99 per megawatt-hour for its duration, starting December 31, 2020. That price brings the project within striking range of the most competitive in the country, but also offers plenty of time for system costs to drop to those levels.

GTM Research senior solar analyst Colin Smith said the Central Arizona Project (CAP) deal marks the second-lowest solar PPA in the GTM database — behind an Austin Energy project announced in December that may hit $21 per megawatt-hour. But there is still some price ambiguity around the Austin project, making the Arizona water agency's agreement the lowest confirmed price to date.

“We are consistently seeing utility solar PPA prices under $30 [per megawatt-hour],” Smith said. “While this is aggressive, this is not out of line with our expectations of where PPA prices are going.”

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[Wellstone ruled]

1. Last I heard was ,

only one of the Three Navajo Power Plant units closes nest year. Then another one within two years with the third unit closed by 2025. Depending on build out of Solar and Wind operations. Hope I see the day when you can see the full beauty of Grand Canyon without the Power Plant Haze.