Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company, a utility-scale solar energy development company, received the green light to proceed with the project after acquiring the project from Sumitomo Corp. of Americas last year.
Overall, the project will result in a projected $60-million investment in Washoe County, including the creation of approximately 75 jobs during construction. The project is scheduled for completion in October 2020 and will provide power to Nevada Energy.
“We are very excited that construction of the Turquoise Solar Project has begun," Greenbacker CEO Charles Wheeler said. "Once completed, Turquoise will be Greenbacker’s largest solar portfolio in the state of Nevada. ... Greenbacker is pleased to partner with McCarthy Renewable Energy Group again and we look forward to continuing our relationship with the accomplished construction firm.”
McCarthy plans to hire approximately 75 craft workers to construct the project, the majority of whom are being recruited from the local community, supporting growth in the clean energy job sector. The project will consist of assembling, installing and wiring horizontal single-axis trackers supporting more than 156,000 solar modules. Once completed, the project is expected to generate enough power for more than 9,300 homes.
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To train entry level laborers or those new to the growing solar industry, McCarthy is implementing principles of Training Within Industry (TWI), a program originally developed by United States Department of War in the 1940s to help retrain workers quickly and reliably on moderately complex tasks. Through its TWI solar program, McCarthy offers training to workers with little or no experience in solar installations. By deploying TWI and lean construction principles on solar projects from coast to coast, McCarthy is overcoming the biggest challenge faced by the construction industry today and training its solar workforce.
“We are continually working to incorporate more sustainable construction practices into our projects and hire and train locally to be the best builder of clean energy solutions in the nation,” said Scott Canada, Senior Vice President of McCarthy’s Renewable Energy Group. “We are grateful to team up with sustainable-minded solar owners like Greenbacker that understand the value of solar infrastructure.”
Since 2010, McCarthy’s Renewable Energy group has completed or is in the process of constructing more than 45 utility-scale clean energy projects in communities across the country, delivering a combined capacity of more than 2.7 gigawatts of clean energy production and over 320 MW of energy storage. Nationally, McCarthy provides Engineer, Procure, Construct services on utility-scale solar projects for private solar developers and utilities, helping them deliver clean energy to the communities they serve.
