The Long Island Power Authority announced Thursday that the LIPA Board of Trustees approved power purchase agreements with BP Solar and enXco Development Corp., thereby creating the state's largest source of solar power on Long Island.

The solar project is expected to be up and running by mid 2010.LIPA's Solar Energy Project will produce approximately 50MW of energy, enough to power 6,500 households and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20,000 tons per year.

In February, LIPA officials announced the results of a competitive procurement process to install photovoltaic arrays, selecting BP Solar and enXco Development Corp. to provide capacity, energy and associated renewable energy credits (RECs) from solar arrays to meet LIPA's renewable energy goals.

LIPA will enter into PPAs with BP Solar and enXco Development Corp to provide 32MW and 17MW of energy, respectively, along with RECs and capacity from their projects. BP Solar will construct its ground-mounted solar system at Brookhaven National Laboratory at a cost of $298 million over the contracted 20-year term. enXco will install solar systems on car ports within existing parking lots, at railroad stations and other facilities owned by Suffolk County owned parking lots at a cost of $125 million over the contracted 20-year term.

Both agreements require the companies to construct, operate and maintain the project and achieve full operation by mid 2011.