When complete, Garnet Mesa Solar in Delta County, Colorado, will produce enough energy for 18,000 average homes per year, and provide grazing land for approximately 600 sheep!
Garnet Mesa Solar is a proposed 80 megawatt (MW) solar agrivoltaic generating facility located approximately 5 miles east of Delta near the intersection of G Rd and 2100 Rd. Guzman Energy, Citra Power, and DMEA worked together to develop the array and an Alluvial Power-managed company owns and will operate the facility. DMEA will energy produced by Garnet Mesa Solar, directly serving local energy needs for approximately 18,000 average homes in the Uncompahgre Valley.
The facility is sited on 383 acres and will produce approximately 200,000 megawatt hours of electricity annually. The facility will continue to support grazing while it generates solar power. The solar panels will be mounted on low-profile, single-axis trackers, which gradually and quietly follow the sun’s path and provide consistent shade for grazing sheep. The project will also include the planting of more than 500 trees and over 1,000 shrubs.
Those in favor of bringing a solar energy system to Delta mentioned helping the environment, additional tax revenue for the city, cheaper rates for customers and having a local energy source as reasons to support the proposal.
Guzman Energy has received approval from the Delta County Board of Commissioners for a limited use permit required to install and operate the proposed Garnet Mesa Solar project in Southern Delta County, Colorado.
When complete, the 80-MW Garnet Mesa Solar Project on 383 acres on a former ranch southeast of Delta will be the largest solar farm on the Western Slope of the Rocky Mountains west of the Continental Divide, and the largest “agrivoltaic” installation in Colorado.
