Construction · General contracting · Construction management Project controls built in CareersMediaPartnershipsProject map
Renewable Energy · 2023

Utility-Scale Solar and Battery Storage Facility

A 350 MW tracker array with battery storage and a collector substation, energized in blocks so early power reached the grid ahead of full completion.

Owner
Confidential
Location
U.S.
Our role
EPC contractor
Delivery
EPC
Scale
350 MW + storage
Completed
2023
The brief

A 350 MW single-axis tracker array with battery storage and a collector substation, built in blocks so the first power reached the grid months before the last module was set.

The project had a power purchase agreement with a commercial operation date and penalties for delay. Modules, trackers, inverters and transformers came from different suppliers with long lead times, and grading, piling and cabling across thousands of acres had to move at a steady rate. The interconnection could only be energized after utility testing on a fixed window.

How we built it

The approach.

  1. 01

    Production rates as the plan

    Piling, tracker and module crews were planned by daily rate, and the schedule flagged any block falling behind within a week.

  2. 02

    Supply chain on the schedule

    Every shipment of modules, trackers and transformers was tied to the block it served, so a late container showed its real impact.

  3. 03

    Energized in blocks

    The array was commissioned block by block, so the first megawatts reached the grid while later blocks were still being built.

  4. 04

    Interconnection tested with the utility

    Protection and control testing were planned with the utility months ahead to hold the energization window.

The outcome.

350 MWSolar capacity
4 hrsBattery storage duration
12Blocks energized in sequence
On dateCommercial operation

“On a job this size, a hundred piles a day is the whole story. We watched the rate, and the rate told us the date.”

Site manager, Jacob Wiseman
Renewable Energy

Planning something like this?

Send us your scope, target date and biggest concern. A senior Jacob Wiseman lead will read it personally.