(By Balaseshan) Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) said its unit Duke Energy Renewables closed its 10-megawatt (MW) Black Mountain Solar Power Project near Kingman, Arizona.
The utility-scale solar project in Mohave County began providing power to customers of UniSource Energy Services (UES), a unit of UNS Energy Corp. (NYSE: UNS) in mid-December. UES is purchasing the power generated at the Black Mountain site through a 20-year agreement.
The project is the largest solar array in UES's renewable energy portfolio and is expected to produce enough energy to power about 1,900 homes annually. Duke Energy Renewables is part of Duke Energy's Commercial Businesses.
Duke Energy Renewables purchased the Black Mountain photovoltaic project from SOLON Corp. in May 2012. SOLON designed and constructed the solar array and will continue to handle operations, monitoring and maintenance of the system.
The Black Mountain Solar Power Project consists of 42,000 PV panels and is Duke Energy Renewables' 13th wholly owned commercial solar project.
In addition to Black Mountain, Duke Energy Renewables has four other commercial solar projects in Arizona: Ajo, Bagdad, Prescott Valley, and Gato Montes. The Prescott Valley Solar Project was developed by INDU Solar Holdings LLC, a joint venture formed by Duke Energy Renewables and Integrys Solar LLC.
Since 2007, Duke Energy has invested more than $2.5 billion to grow its commercial wind and solar business.
DUK is trading down 0.08% at $64.85 on Wednesday. The stock has been trading between $59.63 and $71.13 for the past 52 weeks.