Colorado Solar Electric Energy 2018

Foothills Solar project - City of Loveland, Colorado Water & Power Department. Source - American Public Power Association (APPA) gallery at Unsplash.com.

  • Utility-scale solar electric projects generated 1.94% of Colorado’s electric energy supply in 2018.

  • Electric utilities delivered 1,087 gigaWatthours of solar-electric energy to consumers.

Colorado 2018 Total Annual Electric Energy Sources:
Utility-Scale

Solar electric sources supplied less than 2 percent of total Colorado electric utility energy supply in 2018. Coal-fired electric energy declined from 54.31% in 2017 to 47.10% of total Colorado electric power supply in 2018.


Reproduced from U.S. Department of Energy - WINDExchange, with Linecurrents edits. (Tap/click to enlarge).

Large Projects Added in 2016 Doubled Solar Electric Energy Supply

Colorado’s utility-scale solar electric energy supply grew from 18 gigaWathours in 2008 to 1,087 GWhr in 2018.

Large increases in 2016 and 2017 annual totals (see chart) are the result of two major additions to the Colorado solar electric generating fleet:

  • San Isabel Solar
    Trinidad, Colorado
    30 megaWatts (MW)
    December 2016

  • Comanche Solar
    Pueblo, Colorado
    120 MW
    September 2016

Linecurrents chart, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data. (Tap/click to enlarge).

_________

- Notes -

The following are equal amounts of electric energy:

1 gigaWatthour
GWhr
1,000 megaWatthours
MWhrs
1,000,000 kiloWatthours
KWhrs

May-September Best Months for Solar Energy Production

Maximum & Minimum Months

Maximum
127.9 GWhrs
June

Minimum
52.1 GWhrs
December

Linecurrents chart, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data.

Seasonal Patterns:
Colorado Monthly Solar Electric Energy 2008-2018

Summer versus winter solar electric energy production is more pronounced in 2017 and 2018 due to large projects added in the last half of 2016, causing the vertical-axis scale to expand.

Linecurrents chart - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data

Colorado Solar Electric Energy Generating Sites:
Utility-Scale

Solar electric generating projects rated 5 megaWatts or greater are labeled.

White River Electric Association hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony January 22, 2019 for Piceance Creek Solar in northwest Colorado.

Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association announced January 11, 2019 a contract for construction of 100 MW Spanish Peaks Solar. Construction will begin in 2022, with completion expected 2023. The site is 20 miles north of Trinidad, Colorado, adjacent to the 30 MW San Isabel Solar, completed in 2016.

U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) map - Linecurrents labels

Solar Irradiance Maps:
Colorado & U.S.

Colorado’s sunniest regions are the eastern plains, San Luis Valley, and southwest corner (red & orange).

Annual daily average irradiance energy estimates shown are kiloWatthours per square-meter per day on a flat surface that is perpendicular (normal) to the incoming solar rays.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Colorado map of average daily solar irradiance - Linecurrents edits for sizing

Colorado’s solar energy irradiance is in the middle of the United States good-to-poor scale. Best locations for converting sunlight energy to electric energy is in the southwest U.S.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) United States map of average daily solar irradiance.

More Colorado energy info:

Colorado, solar energy, trendsAllyn Svoboda