McCarthy Building Companies’ Renewable Energy Team was selected as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for 12 solar projects throughout Colorado, totaling 17.4 MWAC / 23.2 MWDC of renewable energy. The projects are owned by Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company LLC. The projects will break ground in August 2018 and are scheduled for completion by year-end.
McCarthy will hire approximately 600 workers across the state to construct the projects, the majority of whom are being recruited from the local community, supporting growth in Colorado’s clean energy job sector. The projects will consist of assembling, installing and wiring more than 60,000 solar modules across all 12 locations.
“Working with McCarthy’s nationally recognized Renewable Energy team to construct a dozen renewable energy projects in Colorado with long-term contracts to sell power is an ideal investment opportunity for Greenbacker,” stated Charles Wheeler, CEO of Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company.
To train the local workforce in the rapidly growing solar industry, McCarthy is implementing principles of Training Within Industry (TWI), a program originally developed by United States Department of War in the 1940s to help quickly and reliably retrain 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 continue our solar collaboration with Greenbacker by helping them add to their solar portfolio and clean energy solutions in Colorado,” said Justin Peterson, Vice President of Operations for McCarthy’s Denver office. “And, through our TWI training program, we look forward to bringing new jobs to communities throughout Colorado and training the local workforce with skills that can be applied to our growing industry.”
The Colorado communities where the 12 solar projects are located include Denver, Watkins, Greeley, Platteville, Alamosa, Rifle and De Beque. Once operational, the projects will participate in Xcel Energy’s Solar* Rewards Community solar program.
— Solar Builder magazine
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