The 150-megawatt Solar Gen 2 photovoltaic power project, located in Imperial County (California), was recently acquired by First Solar, Inc. The Construction of the Imperial County Solar Plant is planned to start this year and is set for completion in 2014.
Once completed, the new photovoltaic (PV) solar plant will produce enough electricity to power more than 60,000 homes, while displacing more than 115,000 metric tons of CO2 per year. Its estimated the photovoltaic (PV) solar plant will save around 93,000 metric tons of water per year.
The San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) has agreed to purchase the electrical output under a 25-year power purchase agreement. Once started, the photovoltaic (PV) solar plant is expected to provide over 800 construction jobs within Imperial County, which has been devastated with high unemployment.
“We are very pleased to help SDG&E meet its clean energy goals and provide clean, reliable, renewable power to their customers,” said Dana Diller, First Solar Vice President of U.S. Business Development.
“We are also proud to once again bring the economic benefits of utility-scale solar development to Imperial County, where both county officials and the Imperial Irrigation District, with which this plant will interconnect, have been extremely supportive.”
The financial details of the new acquisition have not been disclosed, but it includes 40 MW of solar modules that the project previously purchased from another supplier.
First Solar plans to integrate those modules into the construction, and then make up the difference with its own modules in order to complete the power plant. Also, First Solar will provide project development; engineering, procurement and construction (EPC); and grid integration services.
First Solar’s integrated power plant solutions deliver an economically attractive alternative to fossil-fuel electricity generation today. An Arizona First Solar power plant is being built for considerably less than the cost of a new coal power plant. As reported previously, First Solar is currently the #1 solar developer in the world (in terms of project capacity) and the #2 solar module manufacturer (in terms of solar module sales).
