ContourGlobal breaks ground on 509 MW solar-plus-storage project in Arizona

A large solar and battery project is breaking ground in Mohave County, Arizona, and while it won't directly affect your own rooftop or rebates, it says something about where the region's electricity is headed. ContourGlobal's Project Sterling will combine 509 megawatts of solar panels with 360 megawatts of battery storage, large enough to store power for up to 16 hours a day. Most of that electricity, under a long-term contract, will go to Tesla, making this one of the biggest corporate solar-plus-storage deals signed in the U.S. for a single plant.

The project sits on more than 2,000 acres in the Mojave Desert and is expected to be finished in 2028. Once running, it should generate enough electricity each year to cover the residential needs of a city of 100,000 to 120,000 people. It will connect into the broader Western power grid, with support from regional grid operators, which can help with electricity reliability across Arizona and neighboring areas.

For homeowners, the bigger picture is that Arizona already gets about 18% of its electricity from solar, enough to power nearly 2 million homes, and the industry expects tens of thousands more megawatts of solar capacity in the state over the next five years. More large-scale solar and storage coming online can mean a steadier, cleaner grid over time, even though projects like this one are built to serve a specific corporate buyer rather than individual homes.