Baking in the Mojave Sun: US Army Awards $2B Fort Irwin Solar Farm Project

Solar Farm at Nellis AFB(click to view larger) The US Army Corps of Engineers signed an agreement with Irwin Energy Security Partners to build a $2 billion, 500-megawatt (MW) solar energy complex at Fort Irwin located in the Mojave Desert, California. Through an enhanced use lease (EUL) agreement, the Army will lease about 14,000 acres at Fort Irwin to Irwin Energy Security Parnters, a joint venture of ACCIONA Solar Power in Henderson, NV and the Clark Energy Group in Bethesda, MD. The project will be financed and developed by the joint venture partners who will deliver services in kind (e.g., operation and maintenance) to the Army in exchange for the lease of military landholdings. The venture will be able to sell electricity not used by Fort Irwin on the commercial grid via two high-power transmission lines in the vicinity of the base. The 500 MW project will be the largest DoD solar power project, dwarfing the 14 MW solar farm at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada and the 2 MW installation at Fort Carson in Colorado… National Training Centerat Fort Irwin(click to view full) The Fort Irwin solar power facilities will be installed at 5 sites selected by Army […]