Trico breaks ground on solar power facility in Pinal County

By Cameron Jobson
Tuscon Local Media

Trico Electric Cooperative, which serves rural communities throughout Southern Arizona, is constructing a solar power and battery storage facility that will bring renewable energy to residents of Pinal County.

 The project, Chirreon Solar, is located on Edwin Road, just north of the Pima County line. The 90-acre facility is expected to begin producing power this summer. The facility is being built in partnership with Torch Clean Energy, SOLV Energy and CoBank.

 Trico is installing more than 40,000 solar panels that will eventually generate power to more than3,000 homes in the Trico territory, which includes portions of Pinal, Pima, and Santa Cruz counties. The generated solar energy will be automatically distributed to anyone in the SaddleBrooke subdivision, without any need for at-home installation.

 “Trico’s aspiration is to be our members' energy provider choice,” said Trico CEO and general manager Brian Heithoff. “The majority of the grading has been done. Now we have to shift into actual erection of the solar and storage units.”

 The battery units are going to be delivered in the last week of January and the solar panels will be delivered in March. Next, Trico will work to construct the solar titling structures, mounting the panels, and installing the Tesla mega pack batteries.

 Heithoff ensures that the ongoing construction will be secluded in the construction zones. There may be some truck traffic near the highway exits, but it will not result in any road closures.

 Over the long run, producing energy with solar panels is environmentally and financially beneficial. Heithoff said that the primary environmental benefit will be the reduction in carbon emissions.

 “Generating energy with solar and storing it in batteries will reduce the amount of energy that we source from facilities that produce carbon emissions,” Heithoff said.

 And without the need to buy fuel such as coal or natural gas, Trico and their members will increase savings over time. Additionally, Tucson’s 350+ days of annual sunlight only strengthens solar prospects.

 “We are seeing solar power being implemented across the country, but Arizona for sure,” Heithoff said.

 Although it may vary by day or season, the desert sun will charge the batteries and store the energy. Heithoff explained most of the power generation will ramp up in the late morning, and peak in the afternoon. Then the batteries will be able to discharge in the early evening hours.

 “During the rest of the night, when the sun doesn't shine, we will continue to provide power from our other sources,” Heithoff said. “We are displacing some of our other generation with renewable resources.”

 Trico plans on expanding their sustainable energy footprint in future projects.