US Navy closes major deal on solar power

Washington Post : As of 14 October, Arizona’s Mesquite 3 solar array has been switched on and has started powering some 14 naval installations in California. Owned by Sempra Energy, the 150 MW facility will provide about one-third of the US Navy bases’ electrical needs at a fixed price for the next 25 years. The largest renewable-energy procurement ever by the federal government, the deal represents a clean-energy milestone for the US. Since 2010 the US has built about 50 large-scale solar photovoltaic facilities, the first five of which were financed by the Department of Energy. Energy secretary Ernest Moniz credits the DOE program with helping to drive down the cost and jump-start the solar power boom. Although solar power currently provides just 1% of total US electricity capacity, solar power generation has jumped from 20 MW before 2009 to some 31.6 GW today.