KINGMAN - The Mohave County supervisors will hold a special workshop Monday to discuss renewable energy projects in the county.

The supervisors will hold the workshop at 1 p.m. after the regular board meeting and will discuss pursuing alternative energy sources such as wind turbines and solar systems for residential homeowners and commercial projects.

The workshop comes on the heels of an announcement last week by Albiasa Corporation on plans to build a 200-megawatt solar power plant on 1,400 acres off Highway 93, about 40 miles south of Interstate 40. The solar plant would bring up to 2,000 construction jobs and more than 100 permanent jobs to the county. Permanent jobs would include maintenance, plant technicians, security and support positions.

The workshop will look at different renewable energy systems, such as wind turbines, vertical wind turbines, photovoltaic and parabolic trough solar systems. The Arizona Corporate Commission also will discuss available transmission lines and utility power grids. The board also will discuss residential and commercial energy projects.

County staff also is looking into changing the general and area plans and zoning ordinances to make it easier to entice alternative energy projects to come to Mohave County. At a February planning and zoning commission workshop, the ACC reported to the commissioners of the need to attract renewable energy businesses. The ACC now requires that 15 percent of energy created in Arizona must come from renewable energy sources by 2025.

Solar projects could create jobs and provide homegrown electrical energy but only about 3 percent of Mohave County has areas suitable for sustainable winds, especially in the winter months including the eastern areas of Bullhead City.

A wind and solar project are planned near White Hills, and a wind turbine project is planned southwest of Kingman. Applications for seven other wind and solar projects have been submitted to the Bureau of Land Management throughout the county.