Northern Colorado’s largest solar project comes online

A large solar project near Severance, Colorado, just reached full completion. The Black Hollow Sun complex, built by ContourGlobal for the Platte River Power Authority, now generates 324 megawatts of power, making it the largest solar project in northern Colorado. The first phase, 185 megawatts, started running in September 2025, and the second phase has now joined it, finishing a buildout that began after Platte River acquired the project in December 2024.

For homeowners, this isn't a rebate or incentive program, it's a utility-scale power plant joining the regional grid. If you get electricity through Platte River Power Authority, which serves several northern Colorado communities, this project adds more locally generated solar power to the mix that supplies your home. The company says the project supports reliability and affordability for the communities it serves, though no specific changes to rates or bills were announced.

The project uses single-axis tracking panels from Qcells, a system that tilts panels through the day to follow the sun and capture more energy. During construction, it supported more than 700 jobs at peak, with over 70 percent of workers coming from the U.S., including many from the Denver and Fort Collins areas.

This is mainly a story about the region's power supply growing greener and larger, not something that changes what's available for home solar installations or energy upgrades on individual houses.