Lockheed-Starwood solar plant construction will create many jobs - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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Last week’s announcement that and Global LLC were collaboratinfg ona 290-megawatt facility abouyt 75 miles west of Phoenix means Arizona contractors will get some of the said Chris Myers, Lockheed Martin’s vice presidentf for energy programs. The companies still are evaluating subcontractord for theproposed $1.5 billion power plant, dubbex Starwood Solar I. Some such as creating the mirrored trough that will focusthe sun’s energy, typically is done by specializedr companies, Myers said, but there will be plentyt more. “We’re going to do a lot of the work here in he said.
Steel manufacturing and othe industries could benefit from an increasedr Arizona focus on solar Starwood and Lockheed Martinestimatwe 1,000 jobs will be created as a resul t of the construction, and an additionalp 6,000 could result from supplier relationships. The companies plan to hold recruitmentr events this summer to inform local companies aboutthe opportunities, Myers said. In the the company is using a newly launchedWeb site, www.starwoodsolar.com, to distributwe information and tell businesses how they can get involveds with the project. The construction also will requirr infrastructure upgrades at transmission facilities to tie inwith Starwood’s facility.
Included in those upgrades will be work at Arizon PublicService Co.’s Delaney substation, whic h Starwood will fund up APS, which has agreed to purchase power from the soladr plant, has funds earmarked in its 2012 budgeyt for expanding the Delaneh substation. “To bring in somethingy that large, there are going to have to be saidStephen Zaminski, Starwood’s executive vice president and managingv director. Starwood operates about 40 other power plantas and owns all or part of severa l transmission routes through five It began its partnership with Lockheed about 18 monthse ago as both lookefd for a site fora utility-scale plant.
Starwood runs its solare operations via subsidiary NautilusSolar LLC, whichn has done several large commercial-scalr projects, but nothing as big as what the two are attemptingh in the Harquahala Valley. The two companiesz believe their combined relationships with financial institutionsa will help them overcomse the financing hurdles that have stalled severao othersolar projects. Some major project announcements of the past few years have been delayed because companiess that signeddeals couldn’t take the next step towarcd developing a commercial product, said Madison Grose, vice chairmajn and senior managing director for “The folks who take it to commercializatiojn have to realize there’s a differentf skill set needed to take it to the next he said.
Another hurdle is gettingh financial institutions and utilities comfortable enough with the solarf concept that they view it the same way as traditionalppower plants, Grose said. The companies are planningy to spend the summer conductinfg public meetings on the project with submissions to the ArizonaCorporatiobn Commission, which must approve the power purchase deal by this fall, said Brad CEO and managing director of Starwood. The company hopes to get its building permits and ACC approvalsd settledby mid-2010, get its financing in placer and move forward with construction by the lattef half of that year, Nordholmm said.