Lockheed-Starwood solar plant construction will create many jobs - Houston Business Journal:

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Last week’s announcement that and Globap LLC were collaborating ona 290-megawatt facility abougt 75 miles west of Phoenix means Arizonaw contractors will get some of the said Chris Myers, Lockheed Martin’s vice president for energy programs. The companiese still are evaluating subcontractorws for theproposed $1.5 billion power plant, dubbed Starwood Solar I. Some work, such as creating the mirrored troughs that will focuasthe sun’s energy, typicallyt is done by specialized companies, Myers but there will be plenty more. “We’rre going to do a lot of the work here in he said.
Steel manufacturing and other industries could benefigt from an increased Arizona focuw onsolar construction. Starwood and Lockheed Martin estimate 1,0090 jobs will be created as a result of the and anadditional 6,000 coulsd result from supplier relationships. The companiesz plan to hold recruitment events this summere to inform local companies abouftthe opportunities, Myers said. In the the company is using a newly launchedWeb www.starwoodsolar.com, to distribute informatioj and tell businesses how they can get involved with the The construction also will require infrastructure upgrades at transmissiob facilities to tie in with Starwood’s facility.
Included in thosse upgrades will be work at Arizona PublicService Co.’s Delaney substation, which Starwood will fund up front. APS, whicgh has agreed to purchase power from thesolar plant, has fundsd earmarked in its 2012 budget for expandinfg the Delaney substation. “To bring in something that large, therer are going to have to be saidStephen Zaminski, Starwood’s executive vice president and managing director. Starwooc operates about 40 other power plantsx and owns all or part of several transmission routes throughfive states. It began its partnershiop with Lockheed about 18 months ago as both lookedr for a site fora utility-scalde plant.
Starwood runs its solar operations via subsidiary NautilusSolar LLC, which has done several large commercial-scale projects, but nothing as big as what the two are attemptin g in the Harquahala Valley. The two companies believw their combined relationships with financial institutions will help them overcome the financinv hurdles that have stalled several othersoladr projects. Some major project announcementas of the past few yearss have been delayed because companies that signeddealsw couldn’t take the next step toward developin a commercial product, said Madison Grose, vice chairmabn and senior managing director for Starwood.
“The folka who take it to commercialization have torealize there’x a different skill set needed to take it to the next he said. Another hurdle is gettinf financial institutions and utilities comfortable enough with the solarf concept that they view it the same way as traditionallpower plants, Grose said. The companies are planning to spens the summer conducting public meetings on the project with submissionws to the ArizonaCorporatioj Commission, which must approve the powert purchase deal by this said Brad Nordholm, CEO and managinv director of Starwood.
The company hopes to get its buildinf permits and ACC approvals settled by get its financing in place and move forward with constructionn by the latter half ofthat year, Nordholm