Mesquite Solar project
# Mesquite Solar project

The Mesquite Solar project is a 400-megawatt $(MW_{AC})$ photovoltaic power plant in Arlington, Maricopa County, Arizona, owned by Sempra Generation. The project was constructed in 3 phases using more than 2.1 million crystalline silicon solar panels made by Suntech Power.

## Project details

Construction of Phase 1 over a 3.6 $km^2$ site adjacent the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station began in 2011 and was completed in January 2013. It has a nameplate capacity of 150 megawatts (MW) that is contracted through a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E). The EPC contractor was Zachry Holdings. Phase 1 cost about $600 million, is projected to generate more than 350 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually (an average of about 40 MW), and will offset roughly 200,000 tons of carbon emissions each year.

Phase 2 (100MW) and Phase 3 (150MW) were both completed in December 2016. The panels are mounted on single-axis trackers to increase electricity production.

## Electricity production

Total Facility Generation (Annual Sum from All Units Below) :

| Year | Total Annual MW·h |
| - | - |
| 2011 | 2,956 |
| 2012 | 233,105 |
| 2013 | 413,611 |
| 2014 | 408,218 |
| 2015 | 397,599 |
| 2016 | 442,565 |
| 2017 | 1,145,231 |
| 2018 | 1,145,816 |
| 2019 | 1,109,029 |
| Average (2017–2019) | 1,133,359 |

Generation (MW·h) of Mesquite Solar 1 (150MW) :

| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2011 | | | | | | | | | | | 1,711 | 1,245 | 2,956 |
| 2012 | 6,830 | 8,261 | 10,848 | 14,729 | 20,300 | 20,717 | 22,784 | 26,070 | 25,060 | 27,809 | 25,008 | 24,689 | 233,105 |
| 2013 | 26,897 | 31,203 | 35,698 | 37,963 | 39,751 | 39,487 | 38,113 | 36,261 | 35,489 | 38,806 | 27,362 | 26,581 | 413,611 |
| 2014 | 29,466 | 28,570 | 39,157 | 40,084 | 42,765 | 40,304 | 37,138 | 35,717 | 34,451 | 32,627 | 27,236 | 20,703 | 408,218 |
| 2015 | 20,029 | 30,905 | 37,089 | 40,474 | 40,419 | 37,689 | 35,962 | 36,967 | 33,285 | 31,139 | 29,199 | 24,442 | 397,599 |
| 2016 | 23,919 | 32,350 | 36,412 | 37,321 | 42,442 | 39,309 | 38,869 | 38,069 | 33,660 | 34,753 | 28,321 | 22,825 | 408,250 |
| 2017 | 18,968 | 23,127 | 39,542 | 43,048 | 45,896 | 51,628 | 31,943 | 39,425 | 40,513 | 37,184 | 22,096 | 20,363 | 413,734 |
| 2018 | 23,598 | 25,234 | 32,580 | 38,786 | 48,925 | 47,774 | 42,202 | 42,713 | 41,106 | 29,406 | 25,482 | 17,198 | 415,004 |
| 2019 | 21,519 | 21,215 | 33,843 | 40,244 | 42,179 | 47,752 | 42,113 | 45,612 | 36,747 | 37,825 | 21,338 | 16,959 | 407,345 |

Generation (MW·h) of Mesquite Solar 2 (100MW with tracking) :

| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2016 | | | | | | | | | | | | 13,255 | 13,255 |
| 2017 | 15,016 | 16,794 | 26,698 | 29,176 | 31,992 | 32,486 | 29,490 | 28,681 | 26,392 | 23,857 | 15,275 | 15,040 | 290,897 |
| 2018 | 17,201 | 18,569 | 24,484 | 28,562 | 32,739 | 31,729 | 29,461 | 29,075 | 26,015 | 16,891 | 15,900 | 14,396 | 285,023 |
| 2019 | 16,090 | 14,280 | 19,916 | 21,340 | 22,983 | 30,941 | 29,656 | 29,898 | 23,634 | 23,723 | 13,615 | 9,971 | 256,047 |

Generation (MW·h) of Mesquite Solar 3 (150MW with tracking) :

| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2016 | | | | | | | | | | | | 21,060 | 21,060 |
| 2017 | 22,673 | 25,705 | 40,558 | 43,985 | 48,952 | 49,978 | 44,174 | 43,447 | 39,846 | 35,670 | 23,425 | 22,187 | 440,600 |
| 2018 | 25,678 | 28,450 | 38,984 | 43,517 | 50,609 | 48,203 | 44,817 | 44,342 | 39,830 | 31,777 | 27,684 | 21,898 | 445,789 |
| 2019 | 25,460 | 26,613 | 38,070 | 43,410 | 47,869 | 48,938 | 45,483 | 45,652 | 39,165 | 39,109 | 25,772 | 20,096 | 445,637 |
