Lightsource BP has launched a 300MW solar project in Colorado that will “largely” power a local steel mill in what the company has said is a world’s first.
The Bighorn Solar farm represents US$285 million of investment and will power EVRAZ’s Rocky Mountain Steel’s steel mill in Pueblo. It is currently putting power onto the grid and will come fully online in November.
Lightsource BP financed, owns and operates the site. It then sells the power generated to Xcel Energy, a Minneapolis-based utility company, under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA). As part of the agreement, EVRAZ will receive renewable power and “price certainty” until 2041.
