The largest solar project in the world is in the works in Mohave County and has a goal of producing renewable energy by the end of 2013. The projects organizers are scheduled to meet with the Arizona Corporation Commission Monday.

Mohave Sun Power, LLC is a company of experienced developers who construct, own and operate utility-scale solar power projects. Mohave Sun Power has created a single-purpose company called Hualapai Valley Solar LLC to develop a 340 megawatt solar project using parabolic trough solar technology with molten salt storage in Mohave County, according to documents provided by Mohave Sun Solar.

“We have been working on this for over a year,” Mohave County Supervisor Buster Johnson, R-Dist. 3, said Sunday during a telephone interview. Johnson credits Don Van Brunt, former executive director of Mohave County Economic Development Division, for his instrumental efforts in propelling the huge project forward.

Van Brunt has been a leader in locating sufficient and available land for the project and in navigating the county’s many hurdles in relation to a project of this type and of this magnitude, Johnson said.

The solar project site is proposed to be located approximately 25 miles north of Kingman on approximately 4000 acres of land. The project could create as many as 1,500 jobs during the two-and-a-half to three year construction stage and at least 100 full-time jobs for plant operations once completed, Mohave Sun Solar documents said.

Furthermore, the county and state will see additional benefits from goods and services purchased for the project, taxes generated by employment, property taxes, and other taxes paid to that state and local governments, the documents said.

“This would just be the beginning…there are other projects in the works to go along with this,” said Johnson. Mohave County has the opportunity to attract other renewable energy projects or supporting industries by establishing a reputation of treating such endeavors fairly and efficiently, Johnson explained.

Financing for the project would be funded largely with stimulus money, according to Johnson. However, the project would need to abide by a strict development schedule and be operational by a specific date to be eligible for the funding.

The generated energy reserves would be purchased by one or more utilities in California, Nevada, Arizona and Colorado through a negotiated Power Purchase Agreement, Johnson said.

According to Mohave Sun Power documents, the project is striving to design, permit and finance the project through the third quarter of 2010 and would like to begin the construction phase during the fourth quarter of 2010. Mohave Sun is expecting the plant to be operational in the second half of 2013.

The project organizers are currently working to satisfy the requirements set forth by the National Environmental Policy Act process to analyze the environmental, cultural, and social impacts and benefits. Other regulating agencies for the project include Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and Arizona Department of Water Resources, the documents said.

Representatives of the project will meet Monday with the Arizona Corporation Commission with the hope of acquiring a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility, Johnson said.

The project will require an amendment to the county’s general plan, which was filed in March, and will be subject to the discretion of the Mohave County Board of Supervisors in upcoming general meetings.

The public will have opportunities to provide input in regard to the project and the various public entities that will be permitting the progression of the project. Initial public meetings are expected in June, according to Mohave Sun Power.

The solar project is the second one of its kind proposed to anchor in Mohave County, the first being the Albaisa Corporation’s 200MW solar project also proposed for development in the Kingman area.

You may contact the reporter at jhanson@havasunews.com.