San Antonio to Become Solar Hub with 400-Megawatt Project and Manufacturing Consortium

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--San Antonio, Texas, is the site for the development of what will be the largest municipal utility solar power project in the U.S.

CPS Energy (San Antonio) and OCI Solar Power (Seoul, South Korea) have signed an agreement to develop, own and operate the project, which will be constructed in phases and will provide 400 megawatts (MW) of power when complete.

The project will bring equipment manufacturing partners in a manufacturing-to-generation contract and will produce enough electrical power to supply up to 70,000 households, representing about 10% of San Antonio's municipal customers.

Benefits flowing from the project include a new corporate headquarters in San Antonio, plus a $100 million high-tech manufacturing plant. With more than 800 professional and technical jobs, the payroll will be almost $40 million annually. The renewable energy sector will absorb 75% of these jobs.

The project will have a $700 million economic impact on the area and will represent $1 billion in construction investment with a 25-year power purchase agreement.

Mayor Julian Castro said that the project's approach fit the city's long-range SA 2020 goal for clean energy and jobs. He added that CPS's pursuit of clean energy and energy efficiency had attracted seven clean technology companies and a commitment, thus far, of $1 million to local education.

Doyle Beneby,CPS president and CEO, said that leveraging the company's buying power to secure competitive generation resources made good business sense for several reasons: "With 400 MW of solar power, we attain zero-emissions energy to help hedge against environmental regulations. We also provide much-needed generation during peak demand, and obtain affordable renewable energy while enhancing job opportunities for our customers and economic development for the entire region."

Members of the OCI Solar Power consortium will construct facilities to produce components for solar power generation such as modules, trackers and inverters for the North American market. The anchor company in the manufacturing consortium is Nexelon America LLC, which is a subsidiary of Nexelon (Pohang, South Korea). This company will invest $100 million in the manufacturing plant in San Antonio.

"We are thrilled to call San Antonio our home," said Tony Dorazio, the new CEO of OCI. The first 50 MW of solar power is scheduled to be brought online to CPS customers in mid-2013, he said.

For more information, see April 20, 2012, article-San Antonio's CPS Energy Take Advantage of Solar Power Market Opportunities.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.