Lockheed-Starwood solar plant construction will create many jobs - Phoenix Business Journal:

kowutoco.wordpress.com
Last week’s announcement that and Global LLC were collaborating ona 290-megawatt facility about 75 miles west of Phoenix meanws Arizona contractors will get some of the work, said Chris Myers, Lockheed Martin’s vice president for energy programs. The companiew still are evaluating subcontractors for theproposed $1.5 billio power plant, dubbed Starwoodd Solar I. Some work, such as creatingf the mirrored troughs that will focuszthe sun’s energy, typically is done by specializedd companies, Myers said, but there will be plenty “We’re going to do a lot of the work here in he said.
Steel manufacturing and other industries coulrd benefit from an increased Arizona focu s onsolar construction. Starwooxd and Lockheed Martin estimate 1,000 jobs will be createed as a result of the and anadditional 6,000 coul d result from supplier relationships. The companies plan to hold recruitmeng events this summer to informm local companies aboutthe opportunities, Myers said. In the the company is using a newly launchedWeb site, to distribute information and tell businesses how they can get involve d with the project. The constructioj also will require infrastructure upgraded at transmission facilities to tie inwith Starwood’ss facility.
Included in those upgrades will be work at Arizonq PublicService Co.’s Delaney substation, whicjh Starwood will fund up front. APS, which has agreef to purchase power from thesolar plant, has fundes earmarked in its 2012 budget for expandintg the Delaney substation. “To brin g in something that large, there are goinv to have to be improvements,” said Stephen Starwood’s executive vice president andmanaging director. Starwood operatesa about 40 other power plantzs and owns all or part of severakl transmission routes throughfive states. It beganm its partnership with Lockheed about 18 monthd ago as both looked for a site fora utility-scaled plant.
Starwood runs its solar operations via subsidiarh NautilusSolar LLC, which has done several larg commercial-scale projects, but nothing as big as what the two are attempting in the Harquahala Valley. The two companies believe theirt combined relationships with financial institutions will help them overcomew the financing hurdles that have stalledc several other solar Some major project announcements of the past few yearsa have been delayed because companies that signeddealse couldn’t take the next step toward developint a commercial product, said Madison Grose, vice chairmanb and senior managing director for Starwood.
“Thee folks who take it to commercializatioh have torealize there’s a different skill set needed to take it to the next he said. Another hurdle is getting financiall institutions and utilities comfortable enough with the solar concept that they view it the same way as traditionalpoweer plants, Grose said. The companies are planninh to spend the summer conducting publixc meetings on the project with submissionws to the ArizonaCorporation Commission, which must approve the powee purchase deal by this fall, said Brad CEO and managing director of Starwood.
The companu hopes to get its building permits and ACC approvals settled by get its financing in place and move forward with constructiomn by the latter half of that Nordholm said.