Ted Turner unveils plan for 30MW solar ranch

The US solar energy industry welcomed a major new player this week with news that a company backed by billionaire media mogul and vocal environmental campaigner Ted Turner has announced plans for its first solar farm.

Turner, who founded CNN and is America's largest individual land owner, with control of ranches totalling around two million acres, announced earlier this year that his green investment firm Turner Renewable Energy had teamed up with Atlanta-based energy giant Southern Company to form a joint venture to work on renewable energy projects.

Now, less than two months since the initial announcement of the partnership, the two companies have confirmed plans to build a 30MW solar photovoltaic power plant at a site adjacent to Turner's Vermejo Park Ranch in northern New Mexico.

The project was acquired from solar energy firm First Solar, which will continue to manage the facility and will provide the 500,000 thin film solar modules that will be used on the site.

Construction work at the site is expected to begin later this month and the development is scheduled to be completed before the end of the year, at which point it is expected to provide enough power for around 9,000 homes.

The joint venture has also already secured a customer for the resulting energy after electricity wholesaler Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association signed a 25-year power purchase agreement. The not-for-profit organisation sells electricity to 44 electricity co-operatives that together serve 1.4 million customers in Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico and Wyoming.

The speed with which the project has been announced will fuel speculation that Turner and Southern could emerge as major players in the fast-expanding US renewable energy market. Southern remains an operator of coal-fired power plants but has repeatedly signalled its interest in investing in clean coal tec hnologies and renewables, while Turner has similarly deep pockets and access to large areas of land that would face limited local opposition.

In related news, First Solar announced yesterday that it has become the first developer of solar PV systems to join the high profile Desertec project.

The company said it had signed up to the German-based initiative for at least three years and would now contribute to its plan to develop large-scale solar farms in North Africa that would then be able to transmit renewable electricity into Europe.

To date the initiative has focused solely on solar thermal technologies, which are currently regarded as more cost effective than PV systems. However, Stephan Hansen, managing director of First Solar's operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said the firm was looking forward to demonstrating the potential role PV could play in the high profile project.