WIND AND SOLAR TOGETHER

UniSource Signs On for Power from Arizona Wind-Solar Plant
Carl Levesque, October 23, 2009 (Wind Energy Weekly)

"Western Wind Energy Corp. announced October 20 that it has entered into an 11-MW power purchase agreement (PPA) to provide Arizona investor-owned utility UniSource Energy Services with electricity to be generated at what the developer believes will be the first power contract connected with a fully integrated combined wind and solar facility in North America.

"The project, which is in the late stages of development, is located just outside Kingman, Ariz., in Mohave County. One relatively unique aspect of the project is that it is on fully zoned land owned by Western Wind, an early adopter of the land-ownership strategy…"

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"The PPA includes at least 300 kW of photovoltaic solar with the rest coming from wind. The project is expected to be complete by June 2011, although it could be finished sooner…

"…[The future of New Energy, project builders believe, is in] transmission systems that carry multiple forms of renewable energy that complement one another, creating efficiencies and playing to each renewable source’s strength (e.g., in some places, the wind resource is best at night, when the solar resource is dormant)."