McCarthy Building Companies’ Renewable Energy team recently reached peak construction workforce on the Sun Streams 4 solar construction project, a 377-MWDC PV and 300-MWAC/1200 MWh solar and 300-MWAC battery storage facility being developed by Longroad Energy, a U.S.-based renewable energy developer, owner and operator. McCarthy was selected as the EPC contractor for the project, located approximately 40 miles west of Phoenix.
Sun Streams 4 is Longroad’s largest solar + storage project to date, and it is the third project in its Sun Streams complex based in Maricopa County, Arizona. During peak construction, McCarthy will employ more than 250 people, which runs through July 2024. McCarthy is paying prevailing wage and using more than 65 registered operators and carpenter apprentices in accordance with the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Commercial operation for Sun Streams 4 is expected by mid-2025.
“The solar workforce is playing an important role in Arizona’s transition to sustainable renewable energy by building large-scale solar and battery storage projects like Sun Streams 4, which will help power homes across Arizona and meet the peak demand needs of our hot summer months,” said Dan Brown with McCarthy’s Renewable Energy team. “Being our fifth project with Longroad, McCarthy is proud to continue to be cultivating and developing Arizona’s skilled solar workforce through our training and apprenticeship programs.”
Over the project’s lifecycle, Sun Streams 4 is expected to contribute more than $100 million in revenue for Arizona schools and communities through its long-term leases with the Arizona State Land Department and tax remittances.
“We are pleased with the progress on Sun Streams 4, Longroad’s largest solar project to date and one of our first projects to incorporate provisions from the groundbreaking Inflation Reduction Act,” said Paul Gaynor, CEO of Longroad Energy. “McCarthy shares Longroad’s commitment to excellence, and we commend them on their quality and safety record that has distinguished their work on the Sun Streams complex. Longroad is proud of the solar workforce we are helping to build and support in Arizona through our partnership with McCarthy, and we are excited about the many positive benefits that Sun Streams 4 will deliver.”
In a continuation of their longstanding partnership, First Solar is supplying Longroad with nearly 800,000 of its Series 6 Plus solar modules for Sun Streams 4. Nextracker is supplying trackers for the project and Sungrow is supplying the solar inverters. Operations and maintenance services for the project will be provided by NovaSource Power Services and Longroad’s affiliate Longroad Energy Services.
Sun Stream 4’s 300-MWAC/1200-MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) will be provided by U.S.-based energy storage platform provider Powin. The BESS will include SMA inverters and cells from AESC, which will be integrated into Powin’s Modular and Scalable Centipede Energy Storage Platform.
The Sun Streams projects mark a growing presence in Arizona for Longroad. The company owns other operating solar projects in the state as well as an existing development portfolio. Sun Streams 4 is part of the Sun Streams portfolio that Longroad acquired from First Solar in early 2021. McCarthy has been the EPC partner on all three of Longroad’s Sun Streams projects.
McCarthy’s Renewable Energy group is currently constructing or has completed 85 utility-scale clean energy projects in communities across the country since 2010, delivering a combined capacity of more than 9.5 GW of clean energy production and over 1 GW of battery storage.
