SRP, Intel agree to collaborate on Arizona solar plant

PHOENIX – Salt River Project and Intel are collaborating on a solar plant that will help power the tech giant’s East Valley campus, it was announced Monday.

The not-for-profit utility and the computer chip maker will team up on a power plant to be built by sPower, an AES and AIMCo company, in Eloy, about 60 miles south of the Phoenix area.

No details about costs or who would be footing the bill were released.

The solar facility and provide 100 megawatts of zero emissions energy for Intel’s Ocotillo Campus in south Chandler, which is among the global company’s largest semiconductor manufacturing sites.

As part of our commitment to invest in more renewable energy and reduce carbon emissions, we have collaborated with @intel on a 15-year agreement to provide energy from a 100-megawatt solar plant that will be built in Eloy, Ariz. by sPower. https://t.co/stiSJNIcuV

— Salt River Project (@SRPconnect) December 3, 2018

“This effort helps support our portfolio approach to use a greener and more sustainable energy supply,” Marty Sedler, Intel’s director of global utilities and infrastructure, said in a press release.

“Intel will continue to look for additional innovative ways to provide a more sustainable electric supply, globally, in all locations where we operate.”

The 15-year agreement will contribute to SRP’s goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions in power generation by 33 percent by 2035.

“This is a great example of how utilities and their business customers can work together to promote sustainability,” SRP General Manager and CEO Mike Hummel said in the release.

In 2017, Intel pledged to invest $7 billion in its Chandler operations and complete work on the world’s most advanced semiconductor factory.

SRP is the largest electricity provider in the Phoenix area with more than 1 million customers.

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