Last week, Tucson Electric Power announced that it signed and submitted for review ten purchasing agreements (PPAs). If approved by the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC), the PPAs will together total 160 megawatts (MW) of solar energy generating capacity.

The Arizona solar projects would go up in the greater Tucson area and, if all goes according to plan, could begin feeding energy into the grid as early as 2011. All ten are currently in the planning stages and are awaiting approval.

The projects are broken up into three different types of solar generation: three of them will use fixed photovoltaic (PV) panels; four will implement single-tracking devices to harness solar energy; and the remaining three will use concentrated solar power (CSP) technology.

Under Arizona’s Renewable Energy Standard (RES), utilities are to meet 15 percent of their customer’s electricity demands with renewable energy by 2025. Tucson Electric Power’s solar projects would help meet that goal.