DE Shaw has commissioned an 80MW Elektron solar project in Utah, with two power purchase agreements (PPAs) in place with local utility Rocky Mountain Power, a subsidiary of PacifiCorp. The deals involve the sale of electricity generated at the project for 20 years and 25 years respectively. These agreements were signed under Rocky Mountain’s Schedule 34 programme, which allows the utility to acquire power from projects with a capacity of greater than 5MW to serve a number of customers. These customers include Salt Lake City and the Utah Valley University. While Utah’s solar industry has been growing rapidly, the US Solar Energy Industries Association expects the state to add over 4GW of new solar capacity over the next five years.
Solar Dominates US Energy Capacity Growth
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has published data showing that solar accounted for over 75% of US electrical generating
