Lockheed-Starwood solar plant construction will create many jobs - St. Louis Business Journal:

lehoquvuhu.wordpress.com
Last week’s announcement that and Global LLC were collaboratingh ona 290-megawatt facility about 75 miles west of Phoeniz means Arizona contractors will get some of the said Chris Myers, Lockheed Martin’s vice president for energu programs. The companies still are evaluatint subcontractors for theproposed $1.5 billion power plant, dubbed Starwoof Solar I. Some work, such as creatingh the mirrored troughs that will focusthe sun’s energy, typicallu is done by specialized companies, Myers said, but there will be plenth more. “We’re going to do a lot of the work here in he said.
Steel manufacturing and othetr industries could benefit from an increased Arizonqa focus on solar Starwood and Lockheed Martinestimate 1,009 jobs will be created as a result of the construction, and an additionalp 6,000 could result from supplier The companies plan to hold recruitmenty events this summer to inform local companies aboutf the opportunities, Myers said. In the the company is using a newly launchedWeb www.starwoodsolar.com, to distribute information and tell businesses how they can get involvedc with the project. The constructiobn also will require infrastructure upgrades at transmissio n facilities to tie inwith Starwood’sx facility.
Included in those upgrades will be work at Arizonaq PublicService Co.’s Delaney substation, which Starwoodx will fund up APS, which has agreed to purchase power from the solaer plant, has funds earmarked in its 2012 budget for expandin the Delaney substation. “To bringg in something that large, there are going to have to be saidStephen Zaminski, Starwood’s executive vice president and managing Starwood operates about 40 other power plants and owns all or part of severa transmission routes through five It began its partnershi with Lockheed about 18 months ago as both lookedx for a site for a utility-scale Starwood runs its solar operations via subsidiary Nautilus Solar LLC, which has done severalp large commercial-scale projects, but nothing as big as what the two are attemptinvg in the Harquahala The two companies believe theid combined relationships with financial institutions will help them overcomd the financing hurdles that have stalled several o ther solar projects.
Some major project announcements of the past few yearw have been delayed because companies that signed deals couldn’t take the next step toward developing a commercial said Madison Grose, vice chairman and senior managint director for Starwood. “The folks who take it to commercialization have torealize there’s a differentg skill set needed to take it to the next he said. Another hurdle is gettinv financial institutions and utilitied comfortable enough with the solar concept that they view it the same way as traditionaopower plants, Grose said.
The companie are planning to spend the summer conducting public meetings on the project with submissions to the ArizonzaCorporation Commission, which must approve the power purchase deal by this fall, said Brad CEO and managing director of Starwood. The companhy hopes to get its building permits and ACC approvals settledfby mid-2010, get its financinfg in place and move forwarc with construction by the latteer half of that Nordholm said.