The Air Force has entered into an agreement with SunEdison of Belmont, Calif., to design, finance, build, operate, and maintain a 14.5-megawatt photovoltaic solar array on the grounds of Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., announced service officials. SunEdison will erect the array on 170 acres of underutilized base property, according to an Aug. 19 release. Construction is scheduled to commence soon and be completed “no later than December 2012,” states the release. “The project as it was conceived, contracted, and offered to us is only viable and can only be done cost effectively for SunEdison if they can participate in a program to sell the renewable energy certificates to Tucson Electric Power. That program ends the 31st of December 2012,” said Ken Gray, the Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency’s rates and renewables branch chief at Tyndall AFB, Fla. This solar project is expected to supply 35 percent of Davis-Monthan’s power, and save the base $400,000 to $500,000 annually in utility costs, states the release. (Tyndall report by Jennifer Elmore)
NORAD surged two F-35s, two F-16s, and a trio of KC-135s to Pituffik Space Force Base in Greenland earlier this month for a “dynamic operational exercise,” testing its ability to rapidly deploy forces in the Arctic.
