McCarthy Building Companies’ Renewable Energy Team, based in Phoenix, was selected as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor on the Midway III solar project, a new 26-MW project located in Calipatria, California. The project is owned by Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company.
Midway III broke ground in January 2018 and is scheduled for completion in October 2018. Once operational, Midway III will sell all the power generated to a large California utility through a 20-year fixed-price power purchase agreement.
McCarthy will hire 150 craft workers to construct the project, the majority of whom are being recruited from the local community, supporting growth in the clean energy job sector. The project will consist of assembling, installing and wiring horizontal 976 single-axis trackers supporting 140,976 solar panels. The three-month tracker installation phase begins this month.
“Working with McCarthy’s nationally recognized Renewable Energy team to construct a large-scale solar project in California is an ideal investment opportunity for Greenbacker,” stated Charles Wheeler, CEO of Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company. “Upon completion in the third quarter of 2018, we see Midway III as another quality asset producing stable and predictable cash flows to the benefit of our investors.”
To train the local workforce in the emerging solar industry, McCarthy is implementing principles of Training Within Industry (TWI), a program originally developed by United States Department of War in the 1940’s to help quickly and reliably re-train workers on moderately complex tasks. Through its TWI solar program, McCarthy applies its “Learn. Perform. Repeat” methodology and offers highly-effective and efficient training to workers who have little or no experience in solar installations. By deploying TWI and lean construction principles on solar projects from coast to coast McCarthy is overcoming the biggest challenge faced by the construction industry today, and successfully training its solar workforce.
“We’re pleased to be entering into our first solar project with Greenbacker and adding to their solar portfolio and clean energy solutions in California,” said Scott Canada, senior vice president of the Renewable Energy team at McCarthy Building Companies. “And, through our TWI training program, we look forward to bringing new jobs to the community and re-training the local workforce with skills that can be applied to our growing industry.”
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