Denver International Airport will soon be home to the largest photovoltaic solar array in Colorado with help from numerous leading companies in the clean energy sector.Constellation Energy Group Inc. said it will widen a new solar system at Denver International Airport this year.
The 4.4 megawatt installation is the third solar installation at the airport. Constellation will finance, own and drive the solar system, and the airport will buy the electricity over a 20-year period.
Terms of the contract were not disclosed.
Construction is probable to begin in the fall and be completed by early 2011. Yingli Green Energy will provide the solar panels for the project. The system will supply about 7,000 megawatt-hours of electrical energy to the airport each year. Generating that much energy from traditional sources would discharge about 5,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.While this will be the biggest solar array in Colorado, it will not be the only one at Denver International Airport. There are previously two arrays in operation there, one generating 2 megawatts of electricity and the other generating 1.6 megawatts.
"Denver's airport has a widespread name as a 'green' airport. Our partnership with Oak Leaf Energy, Constellation Energy and Intermountain Electric not only expands our sustainability pains, but is a great example of public-private partnerships advancing the 'green economy," said DIA's aviation manager, Kim Day.
