Solar farm begins operations near Kayenta

Could be future of Navajo power

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Navajo Tribal Utility Authority, an entity of the Navajo Nation, began generating electricity last month with its newly installed solar farm located on 200 acres five miles north of Kayenta, Ariz. The solar farm is visible on the west side of U.S. Highway 163.
The 27.3-megawatt Kayenta Solar Project is the first large-scale solar energy facility on the reservation. The electricity it generates is sold to the Salt River Project for distribution.
The solar farm has 120,000 photovoltaic solar panels. The panels track the movement of the sun for maximum solar absorption. The solar panels are equipped to lie flat when wind speeds get over 50 mph. Two weather stations are on site that monitor wind speed, temperature and humidity.
Glenn Steiger, the solar farm’s project manager, believes solar farms have a bright future in Arizona and the Navajo Nation.

“With the Navajo Generating Station shutting down, that leaves a hole in power generation in this region,” he said, “and we know that part of that hole ultimately will be filled with renewable energy, whether it’s solar or wind. By us constructing and operating this project, it’s giving us substantial experience in doing this, knowing full well there’s going to be more of this in the near future.”
For now, the project is operated by First Solar Inc. in Tempe, and there are plans to bring the controls in house, Steiger said.
Energy is generated as a direct current then converted to alternating current before it interconnects to the nearby 230,000-volt transmission line, owned by the Western Area Power Administration. Energy created by the Kayenta Solar Project is delivered across the reservation and into Arizona, California, New Mexico and Utah.
If the project proves viable the Kayenta solar farm can be expanded by another 100 acres under the current lease agreement.
Navajo Tribal Utility Authority General Manager Walter Haase says this project shows that the Navajo Nation is ready for large scale renewable energy production.
“This is a huge step into the area of energy production and sales, as well as a gigantic first step toward enhancing the green economy for the Navajo Nation,” Haase said.
Construction of the solar farm began last September. Construction was done by Isolux Corsan, an international company specializing in building photovoltaic solar plants. The construction employed 250 workers, 195 of which were Navajo.
As part of the lease agreement, the NTUA will run power lines to 92 Navajo residences which previously had been without electricity.