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The diligence of builders and installers, the ingenuity of engineers, the guidance of developers, and the commitment of numerous nearby companies, governmental organizations, and nonprofits have been recognized as a well-done collaborative accomplishment out west. Leaving coal behind and jumping into the solar future, the Escalante Solar project has just won a big award.
Through a power purchase agreement with Origis Energy, Escalante Solar provides Tri-State members, including 11 electric cooperative members in New Mexico, with enough electricity to power an estimated 63,000 homes. The project is situated within the service area of Tri-State member Continental Divide Electric Cooperative and was announced in 2020 as part of the state’s clean energy transition. Escalante Solar was chosen to receive money as part of Tri-State’s roughly $2.5 billion U.S. Department of Agriculture New ERA Program award.
“Escalante Solar was a standout project in an impressive field of submissions this year,” said Chris Crowell, Editor-in-Chief of Solar Builder. “Converting a decommissioned coal plant site — with challenging ground conditions — into a solar project to help meet the utility’s emissions reduction goals is a powerful symbol of what’s possible with today’s solar industry.”
The 253 MW coal power plant was retired in 2020, putting an end to pollution in the Grants, New Mexico, area. The new solar power plant that took its place started generating completely clean electricity on June 1, 2024
“It’s always nice to be recognized by others for our work, but we are most proud of the benefits Escalante provides to Tri-State and its members and are grateful for the economic impact it has created for a variety of New Mexico-based companies,” said Kevin Bassalleck, President of Gridworks.
“We are quite pleased Escalante is serving the members of Tri-State with 200 MWac of affordable, reliable, clean solar generation,” said Vikas Anand, CEO of Origis Energy. “This is a great time to thank Tri-State’s leadership team for collaborating with us and our engineering, construction, and financial partners on the project. Our Origis team will keep developing projects that deliver.”
Approximately 400 workers were employed by Gridworks, which has its headquarters in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and provided construction services for the project. Origis Energy Services employs about 4 to 6 onsite workers to provide long-term operations and maintenance services for the solar power plant.
The installation included about 500,000 Boviet solar panels. Array Technologies, headquartered and expanding in Albuquerque, New Mexico, supplied solar tracking systems and solutions.
“As the largest solar project in the Tri-State generation portfolio, Escalante helps all our members get to 50% clean energy used in 2025, while meeting the requirements of New Mexico’s Energy Transition Act five years ahead of schedule,” said Duane Highley, CEO for Tri-State.
50% clean energy is a great accomplishment. We would be much better off if we were all at that milestone by 2025.
If you would like to know more about the challenges of this accomplishment, check out the following video:
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