The Boulder Solar project is a 150 megawatt (MWAC) photovoltaic power station near Boulder City, Nevada. It was built in two phases by SunPower using its Oasis Power Plant system.[1] The project is co-located with several other large solar power projects in the Eldorado Valley.
| Boulder Solar I/II | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Country | United States |
| Location | Boulder City |
| Coordinates | 35°50′12″N 114°58′28″W / 35.83667°N 114.97444°W |
| Status | Operational |
| Commission date | December 2016 (BS1) January 2017 (BS2) |
| Owner(s) | Southern Power (BS1-51%) New Energy Solar (BS1-49%) American Electric Power (BS2) |
| Operator(s) | SunPower |
| Solar farm | |
| Type | Flat-panel PV single-axis tracking |
| Site area | 900 acres (3.64 km2) |
| Power generation | |
| Nameplate capacity | 150 MWAC |
| Capacity factor | 30.9% (average 2017–2019) |
| Annual net output | 407 GW·h, 452 MW·h/acre |
Facility details
The 100 MW Boulder Solar 1 began construction on 600 acres in December 2015, and went online in mid-December 2016.[2][3] It uses 288,000 tracker-mounted panels manufactured by SunPower.[4] It has an expected annual production of about 280 GWh and will provide Boulder City with $20 million in land lease payments over the 20-year term.[5][6]
Southern Power purchased a controlling (51%) interest in Boulder Solar 1 in November 2016.[7] New Energy Solar purchased the remaining 49% interest in February 2018.[8] The electricity is being sold to NV Energy under a 20-year power purchase agreement. Along with geothermal power and numerous smaller solar energy installations throughout the city, Boulder Solar 1 allowed Las Vegas to operate all municipal services with renewable energy sources starting at the end of 2016.[3]
The 50 MW Boulder Solar 2, also constructed by SunPower, entered service in January 2017 with an expected annual production of 140 GWh.[9] It is owned by American Electric Power and is also selling its electricity to NV Energy.[9] Apple Inc. motivated this construction phase of the project through the participation of its northern Nevada data centers in the NV GreenEnergy Rider opportunity.[10][11]
Electricity production
| Year | Total Annual MW·h |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 10,740 |
| 2017 | 405,214 |
| 2018 | 415,341 |
| 2019 | 399,324 |
| 2020 | 417,972 |
| 2021 | 389,826 |
| 2022 | 397,756 |
| Average (2017–2022) | 404,405 |
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 10,740 | 10,740 | |||||||||||
| 2017 | 11,302 | 10,807 | 23,954 | 28,536 | 32,221 | 33,171 | 27,273 | 27,327 | 24,147 | 23,122 | 15,208 | 14,435 | 271,503 |
| 2018 | 14,653 | 17,350 | 22,677 | 28,887 | 31,586 | 33,857 | 28,388 | 26,658 | 26,169 | 20,714 | 16,626 | 12,538 | 280,103 |
| 2019 | 13,616 | 15,077 | 24,140 | 25,737 | 28,035 | 26,986 | 30,612 | 29,624 | 24,634 | 23,039 | 15,647 | 10,987 | 268,134 |
| 2020 | 281,229 | ||||||||||||
| 2021 | 260,496 | ||||||||||||
| 2022 | 267,761 |
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 5,507 | 6,536 | 12,296 | 13,795 | 15,698 | 16,306 | 13,480 | 13,265 | 11,666 | 11,084 | 7,197 | 6,881 | 133,711 |
| 2018 | 7,079 | 8,146 | 11,006 | 14,014 | 15,311 | 16,522 | 13,923 | 12,723 | 12,656 | 9,902 | 7,959 | 5,997 | 135,238 |
| 2019 | 6,551 | 7,322 | 11,697 | 12,623 | 13,885 | 15,375 | 14,982 | 12,650 | 11,999 | 11,263 | 7,564 | 5,279 | 131,190 |
| 2020 | 136,743 | ||||||||||||
| 2021 | 129,330 | ||||||||||||
| 2022 | 130,085 |
