new solar plan proposed for desert land in arizona

A South Korean subsidiary has announced plans to build a new solar plant in southwest Arizona.

Expected to be built in La Paz County, the facility will go up on just over 4,600 acres of land belonging to the Bureau of Land Management.

The 174 Power Global Corporation, based in Irvine, California, says the planned 800-megawatt facility will be built at almost the exact midway point between the western edge of the Phoenix metropolitan area and the Arizona/California border.

That location is fortuitous, with the company saying that, upon the facility’s completion, its energy could be sold to markets in either or both Arizona and California.

As proposed, the project will first have to be approved by the BLM, while also being subject to an environmental review as required under the National Environmental Policy Act.

The 174 Power Global company is part of the larger Hanwha Corporation, which is based in Seoul, South Korea and is regarded as a multi-profile conglomerate.
One pubic information meeting sponsored by the BLM has already been held on the project.

If built, the solar plant would include a nearly 5-mile long 500 kilovolt transmission line that would connect the solar facility to a regional electrical system.

Site for the project is located inside what is known as the BLM’s Western Solar Plan that allows for utility-sized solar energy projects in 6 states including Arizona.
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Last summer 174 Power Global began work on a $200 million, 150-megawatt solar facility in western Texas near the city of Odessa. 

​By Garry Boulard

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