UA to sign a PPA deal with TEP's solar and wind power in USA

The University of Arizona has partnered with Tucson Electric Power, or TEP, to provide its campus with enough clean, emission-free power from new solar, storage and wind systems to serve all of its purchased power needs.

The Wilmot Energy Center includes a 100 megawatt solar array and a 30 MW energy storage system. The system comprises approximately 314,000 solar panels on 1,130 acres near South Swan Road and East Old Vail Connection Road. Construction is planned to begin in January, and the system is expected to be online by December 2020.

The Oso Grande Wind Project will generate up to 247 MW for the university and other TEP customers. The project will include 61 highly efficient turbines installed on 24,000 acres southeast of Roswell, New Mexico. TEP expects construction to begin later this year, and the system also should be in service by the end of 2020.

The University of Arizona is part of the University Climate Change Coalition, or UC3, which is committed to reducing climate-changing emissions and improving research on climate change policy across its 20 member universities in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The agreement provides the university with affordable access to energy from those two systems for 20 years.