The “Pike Solar” solar farm will supply energy to the regional American energy supplier Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) under a 17-year power purchase agreement. “Pike Solar is now the largest solar installation in our system and represents a significant step toward our goal of reducing carbon emissions by 80% by 2030,” said Travas Deal, CSU Chief Executive Officer. Chris Fallon, president of Deriva Energy, added, “This is a critical step toward achieving Colorado Springs Utilities’ sustainable energy goals and we look forward to bringing new, clean power to homes and businesses.”
Area of over 530 hectares
Juwi has completed the development, engineering and construction of the project and will provide operations and maintenance services to Pike Solar. The project is located on an area of over 530 hectares south of the city of Colorado Springs on the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains, approximately 100 kilometers south of Denver. At peak times, around 350 people worked on the solar park. The plant will be owned by Deriva Energy and, together with Juwi, will assume operational and maintenance responsibility.
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Single-axis trackers
“The safe and timely completion of Pike Solar is the result of extensive collaboration among project participants, including the teams from Deriva Energy, Colorado Springs Utilities, El Paso County, City of Fountain and all reliable and hard-working subcontractors,” said Michael Martin, CEO from Juwi Inc. “The Juwi team worked consistently to complete this project under complex logistical and weather-related challenges.” Construction began in late autumn 2022. Over 400,000 solar modules were installed, which were installed on a single-axis substructure with automatic tracking. “We have now implemented 25 projects in the USA with a total output of around 730 megawatts and have an attractive pipeline,” emphasizes Stephan Hansen, COO of Juwi.” (hcn)
