Tessera Solar received final approval from the Phoenix City Council to build a solar plant estimated at $1 billion on a city landfill in Buckeye.

The Houston company will build a 150- to 200-megawatt system at the landfill on the west side of State Route 85. The project will be built on about 1,200 acres, and Phoenix officials said it will generate about 300 construction jobs.

Tessera is the development company for Scottsdale-based Stirling Energy Systems. This will be the second Arizona project for both companies. Their first was the 1.5-megawatt Maricopa Solar facility in Peoria, a demonstration unit with Salt River Project that is now operational.

The landfill-to-solar power plant is part of Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon’s “Green Phoenix” plan, which looks to transform the city green.

Tessera was chosen from over three other bidders: BrightSource Energy Inc., Johnson Controls Inc. and a team of US Energy Partners and Munich Energy Partners America.

Phoenix and Buckeye officials are slated to make a formal announcement Thursday.

Source: Phoenix Business Journal