The company announced Monday that it was collaborating with Public Service Company of Colorado - a subsidiary of Xcel Energy - to build the array, which will provide enough energy for 6,500 homes. The plant, as currently planned, will use concentrating photovoltaic technology to focus sunlight on super-efficient photovoltaic panels; CPV, Cogentrix says, produces more energy per acre than any other solar technology.
Conditions in southern Colorado are ideal for solar projects, too. "Photovoltaic and solar generation have a better match to our peak load than does other intermittent renewables like wind," Xcel Energy vice president Tom Imbler said.
Cogentrix' plant looks ready to move forward: The company has secured all necessary permitting and is in the midst of finding financial backing. Construction, it's hoped, will commence in early 2011.
Colorado has one of the nation's most stringent renewable portfolio standards in the country - 30 percent of its electricity will be renewably produced by 2020. Projects like Cogentrix' may appear around the state in greater numbers.
