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Colorado Mountain College Solar + Battery Storage Complex

A Collaboration Between Holy Cross Energy, Colorado Mountain College, Ameresco, Sunsense and Friends

We’re proud to announce the completion of our new solar array and battery storage project at Colorado Mountain College’s Spring Valley campus in Glenwood Springs!

This utility-scale solar + storage project will assist in our efforts to provide our members with 100% carbon-free electricity by 2030. CMC has a similar goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.

The avoided annual greenhouse gas emissions of the solar PV are expected to be 6,853 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, which equates to the emissions benefit of removing 1,481 passenger vehicles from the road, or not burning 7,551,050 pounds of coal.

Projected Carbon Offset Numbers

Metric Tons of CO2
0
Passenger Vehicles
0
Pounds of Coal
0
Providing 4.5 MW of solar power.
0 Solar Panels
Providing 5 MW/15 MWh of battery energy storage.
0 Battery Stacks

Meet Our Partners on This Project

Project Developer
Ameresco

Local Solar Installer
Sunsense Solar

The system will provide power for three CMC campuses, including Vail Valley, Aspen and Spring Valley, and is anticipated to come online in fall 2022.

Many of the 13,500 solar panels are on a single-axis tracker racker to take advantage of the varying terrain and space constraints of the site. The battery system is comprised of 68 battery stacks housed in 4 on-site containers, which also contain an HVAC system for temperature and humidity control and a fire suppression system for safety.

We will use the batteries to discharge during system peak, reducing our wholesale energy costs and saving money for our entire membership.

The HCE/CMC solar plus storage project is a great example of a win-win renewable project. Not only does the project assist both HCE and CMC toward their renewable and carbon goals, the battery also provides us with the flexibility to operate an increasingly renewable portfolio. To top it all off, we’re able to do this in a financially responsible way that saves money for all our members.

Sam Whelan
Vice President of Power Supply,
Holy Cross Energy