City on track to save $1 million over the next 25 years

The city’s new solar power project is in the final phases of testing, and is slated to go live in the next several weeks. Once operational, the site will generate roughly 10 percent of Gallup’s power. The solar farm will be located on city-owned property south of Interstate 40, between the pending Allison Road interchange and Muñoz exit.

The project, two years in the making, began from a city request for proposals in 2015. The firm selected for the job was and is Standard Solar Inc. The company also owns and operates the endless rows of solar panels that now obscure a once barren field.

According to an article on the project by Kelsey Misbrener for Solar Power World, “The single-axis tracker array is expected to generate more than 20 million kilowatt-hours of power annually providing nearly 10 percent of the city’s energy use.”

Standard Solar will have the right to lease the land from the city for 25 years, but the city has retained the right to purchase the project after seven years.

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