Construction of Phase 1 over a 3.6 km2 site adjacent the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station began in 2011 and was completed in January 2013.[3][4] 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).[5] The EPC contractor was Zachry Holdings.[6] 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.[6][7]
Phase 2 (100MW) and Phase 3 (150MW) were both completed in December 2016.[8][9][10] The panels are mounted on single-axis trackers to increase electricity production.
Electricity production
Total Facility Generation (Annual Sum from All Units Below)
^Wesoff, Eric (February 3, 2011). "Suntech to Supply 800,000 PV Panels for Sempra's Mesquite 1". Greentech Media. Retrieved 2011-02-06.
^Woody, Todd (February 4, 2011). "Arizona Solar Plant Picks Chinese Supplier". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-02-06.
^"Sempra Generation Mesquite Solar Phase 1". Retrieved 2018-12-31.
^Sempra Completes first phase of Mesquite Solar Project
^"Sempra Generation Contracts With PG&E for 150 MW of Solar Power". CNNMoney.com. October 12, 2010. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
^ a b"Sempra Generation Selects Suntech and Zachry for Landmark Arizona Solar Power Plant". Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. February 3, 2011. Retrieved 2011-02-06.
^Goossens, Ehren (February 3, 2011). "Sempra Buying Suntech Panels for 150-Megawatt Solar Project". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2011-02-06. Scott Crider, a Sempra Generation spokesman, would not give a price for the Mesquite project. Photovoltaic "projects can range from $3.5 to $5.5 million per megawatt, that's the general industry standard," he said in an interview.
^"Sempra Generation Mesquite Solar Phase 2". Retrieved 2018-12-31.
^"Sempra Generation Mesquite Solar Phase 3". Retrieved 2018-12-31.
^Table 6.3. New Utility Scale Generating Units by Operating Company, Plant, Month, and Year, Electric Power Monthly, U.S. Energy Information Administration, February 24, 2017