EVelution Energy, an electric vehicle battery materials company, has received the approval of the Yuma County Board of Supervisors to develop a solar-powered cobalt sulfate production facility in Yuma County, Ariz., the first EV battery facility with on-site renewable energy generation in the U.S.

The facility expects to produce  7,000 tonnes of cobalt per year and calls for 28.4 MW of on-site solar power generating arrays to be installed on 105 acres of the company’s 139-acre property in Yuma County, Arizona. The estimated power needs of the cobalt processing facility are expected to be about 6 MW, allowing the company to sell excess power during the day to local electric utility, the Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation District, Gil Michel-Garcia, executive vice president and general counsel of EVelution, told pv magazine USA.