First Solar continues to expand as the largest solar company in the world. First Solar today announced that it has bought the 250 MW Moapa Solar Project from K Road Power Holdings LLC.
The Moapa Solar Project — located on the Moapa River Indian Reservation in Clark County, northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada — is not complete but is in an advanced stage of development. Depending on how you count, if the solar power plant were completed today, it would be the second- or third-largest solar PV power plant in the world… depending on how you count.
It already has a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) set with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP).
The Moapa Solar Project was also “the first large-scale solar project approved to be built on tribal land in North America,” First Solar notes.
“Construction of the project, situated within a 2,000-acre segment of the Moapa Band of Paiutes tribal land, could start as soon as the fourth quarter of 2013, and be completed by the end of 2015. The project is expected to create up to 400 jobs during peak of construction, and approximately 10 permanent jobs when the power plant is in operation. First Solar will design and build the project, using its Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) thin film solar modules.”
“First Solar is proud to participate in this landmark project on lands where it can benefit the economic development of the Moapa Paiute tribe and serve clean energy to the City of Los Angeles,” said Jim Hughes, First Solar’s Chief Executive Officer.
Here are some more project facts:
- In the first year, the project is likely to produce enough electricity for 100,000 average US homes.
- The project is also projected to displace over 178,000 metric tons of CO2 each year (something like taking 34,000 cars off the road).
- The project should also displace over 142,000 metric tons of water consumption annually.
