Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Intersect Power is seeking to build a sprawling 1,000-MW solar-plus-storage project in eastern Arizona — one of several such projects under construction in the U.S.
Why it matters: The 1 GW project is huge — nearly double the capacity of the biggest operating solar farm in the U.S.
What's happening: The Bureau of Land Management yesterday held an information session on the proposed Hopper Renewable Project.
- Intersect Power is seeking a variance to build the solar facility on federal land.
- The project would span more than 9,500 acres, or about 14 square miles, in the San Simon Valley, roughly 130 miles northeast of Tucson.
- Once complete, it would interconnect with Tucson Electric Power or the Arizona Electric Power Cooperative.
Zoom out: Intersect, based in Oregon, raised a $75o million growth equity round in July led by TPG Rise Climate.
- Intersect is building 2.2 GW of solar and 1.4 GWh of co-located energy storage that it expects to complete this year, and plans to bring more than 8.5 GW of solar and 8 GWh of energy storage online.
Meanwhile: Other major solar projects in the works include the 1.3-GW "Mammoth North" solar project in northern Indiana, developed by Israel's Doral Renewable Energy Group. The first 400 MW are expected to come online next year.
- Primergy Solar, which is part of Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, this spring secured $1.3 billion in financing for its 690 MW "Gemini" solar-plus-storage project in Nevada.