8minutenergy Turns On Phases 1 & 2 Of 328 Megawatt Mount Signal 3 Solar Farm

July 12th, 2018 by Joshua S Hill

The United States’ largest independent solar power developer, 8minutenergy, announced this week that it has successfully energized Phases 1 and 2 of the 328 megawatt (MW) Mount Signal 3 Solar Farm in the city of Calexico in California’s Imperial Valley.

8minutenergy announced in July of 2017, along with global private asset manager Capital Dynamics, the acquisition of Mount Signal 3, which is the third phase of the 800 MW Mount Signal Solar Farm, at the time one of the world’s largest solar PV projects. More specifically, Capital Dynamics acquired the project itself, for which 8minutenergy remained on as project developer.

American solar PV manufacturer First Solar provided the 2.8 million Series 4 thin-film solar panels for the mammoth project, and NEXTracker supplied its NX Horizon smart solar trackers. Once fully complete, Mount Signal 3 will deliver over 770 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of clean electricity through a long-term Power Purchase Agreement with Southern California Edison, enough power to supply more than 114,000 homes each year.

“We’re proud to hit this exciting phase of the Mount Signal solar cluster–one of the largest in the world,” said 8minutenergy CEO and Founder, Martin Hermann. “This project is important to the Imperial Valley’s future given the amount of abundant and reliable solar power that will be delivered to the region for decades to come. As the original developer of the 260 MW Mount Signal 1 project, we are thrilled to see the next project coming to fruition.”

Mount Signal 1 was completed back in May of 2014 and was constructed and commissioned in a record 16 months by Spanish multinational Abengoa, for Silver Ridge Power.

“All of our dedicated partners have been invaluable in ensuring this important project will be completed on time,” added 8minutenergy President and Co-Founder, Tom Buttgenbach. “We would like to thank Imperial County’s Board of Supervisors, and the entire staff of the County administration, all of whom have been continuously supportive during the construction of this project. We send additional thanks to the local community, environmental groups, and an outstanding local workforce for enabling us to build Mt. Signal 3 ahead of schedule, and in an environmentally-friendly manner.”











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