Phase 2 completion marks a major clean energy milestone for Northern Colorado
Platte River Power Authority and ContourGlobal celebrated the completion of Phase 2 of the Black Hollow Sun project near Severance, bringing Northern Colorado’s largest solar project fully online. Community leaders, project partners and stakeholders gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to recognize the significant milestone and years of planning, collaboration and construction required to bring the 257-megawatt solar facility to completion.
The complex is expected to generate approximately 608 gigawatt-hours of clean electricity per year, enough to power more than 73,000 homes and businesses across Platte River’s owner communities of Fort Collins, Estes Park, Longmont and Loveland.
“This project represents years of commitment, perseverance and partnership,” says Jason Frisbie, general manager and CEO of Platte River. “From project selection in 2019 through global supply chain disruptions, inflationary pressures and construction challenges, our teams remained focused on delivering a resource that advances our shared energy goals while supporting reliability and affordability for our owner communities. Today’s celebration recognizes the dedication of everyone who helped make Black Hollow Sun a reality.”
Construction began following a groundbreaking ceremony in July 2024. The approximately 1,700-acre facility includes more than 500,000 photovoltaic solar panels and uses single-axis tracking technology to maximize energy production throughout the day. The project was developed by ContourGlobal, which also owns and operates both phases of the project, which now delivers 257 megawatts of clean electricity to Platte River under a long-term power purchase agreement.
Acquired in December 2024, the Black Hollow Sun complex has progressed rapidly: Phase 1, a 150-megawatt plant and ContourGlobal’s first large-scale solar photovoltaic construction in the U.S., entered commercial operation in September 2025, while Phase 2 began construction in April 2025. With Phase 2 completion the project reached commercial operation in September 2026, four months ahead of schedule.
“Black Hollow Sun represents a landmark achievement for ContourGlobal in the United States, our largest operating solar complex company-wide, and a true example of how American manufacturing, local partnerships and long-term community engagement can come together to deliver reliable, affordable clean energy at scale,” says Javier Alvarez Canedo, general manager USA of ContourGlobal. “With the strong, long-term partnership with Platte River, this project stands as a genuine team effort made possible thanks to the contribution of the many professionals and key partners such as Hanwha Qcells, our EPC, whose modules included panels assembled at their U.S. manufacturing facilities.”
During construction, the Black Hollow Sun project supported more than 700 direct jobs at peak activity, with more than 70 percent of the workforce sourced locally from the United States, including many workers from the Denver and Fort Collins areas.
ContourGlobal worked closely with Severance town authorities, Weld County officials and local residents to ensure the project aligned with community expectations and values, while maintaining close collaboration with Platte River to coordinate project milestones and secure long-term benefits for the region.
Black Hollow Sun is a major component of Platte River’s long-term strategy to meet the evolving energy needs of its owner communities while maintaining reliability, affordability and environmental responsibility. The project’s completion advances the shared energy goals of Platte River and its owner communities of Estes Park, Fort Collins, Longmont and Loveland, and will deliver lasting benefits to customers across Northern Colorado.
The recent completion at the Black Hollow Sun II solar plant in Colorado puts ContourGlobal’s overall U.S. portfolio at 2.7 gigawatts of power generation capacity in operation or under construction, split between an operational thermal portfolio of 1.2 gigawatts across 10 plants in California, New Mexico and Texas, and 1.5 gigawatts of U.S. renewable capacity, including 324 megawatts peak of solar photovoltaics now in operation as well as around 0.8 gigawatts of solar photovoltaics and 0.3 gigawatts of battery energy storage systems under construction.
