Phoenix Solar, Inc. the San Ramon, California, based subsidiary of Phoenix Solar AG, has been commissioned to build a series of 19 photovoltaic power plants with a total nominal output of 26.6 MWp DC. The customer is Western Farmers Electric Cooperative (WFEC), based near Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The solar systems are to be constructed largely in the state of Oklahoma, with individual project sizes of up to 5 MWp DC.

Phoenix Solar, Inc., will carry out all design, engineering and procurement tasks and in addition will manage the actual construction work for this portfolio. Engineering of some of the smaller plants has already started and all systems are scheduled to be completed before the end of 2016.

Brian Hobbs, Vice President of Legal and Corporate Services at WFEC, said: "Our goal is to provide our 22 distribution cooperative members with reliable, competitively-priced energy, while placing special emphasis on increasingly harnessing renewable sources of energy, in an economical manner. Building these projects together with Phoenix Solar is a big step in this direction."

Hobbs noted that WFEC believes that diversity of resources is key to long-term, low-cost generation. “That’s why we use wind, hydro, solar, coal and natural gas,” he said. “Diversity is critical to long-term reliability and affordability.”

Tim P. Ryan, CEO of Phoenix Solar AG added: "With these plants, WFEC is now initiating one of the largest solar portfolios to be built in the state of Oklahoma. We greatly appreciate the confidence this large energy cooperative has placed in Phoenix Solar, based on our track record of safety, quality and on-time, on-budget design and execution of solar power plants. Western Farmers is clearly creating added value for its members by supporting their shift to renewable energy. Cooperatives like Western Farmers throughout the USA are increasingly discovering the benefits of solar power and we look forward to further opportunities in this new and promising field."