NRG Energy declared that it has finished the acquisition process of the Agua Caliente solar project from First Solar.
Workers install solar photovoltaic panels at the 290-megawatt Agua Caliente solar project in Arizona, the world's largest solar photovoltaic project under construction. Credit: First Solar
The acquisition of the 290 MW project was dependent on the fiscal closing of the loan guarantee of the project from the Loan Programs Office of the U.S. Department of Energy.
The project has received all the necessary approvals and permits from the state as well as the federal agencies. The project anticipated to get completed by 2014 will generate around 400 construction employments during the construction phase of the project. The monetary terms of the project sale are not revealed.
Agua Caliente project has entered into a 25 year power purchase accord with Pacific Gas and Electric to trade the power generated from the facility, thus enabling California to achieve its renewable energy targets. When the project performs an optimum level of power generation, the electricity generated from the facility will meet the power requirements of over 225,000 homes. In a period of 25 years, the power generated from the facility will counterbalance nearly 5.5 Mt of carbon dioxide discharges, which can be equated to the removal of more than 40,000 cars from plying on the roads every year.
According to Tom Doyle, NRG Solar’s CEO, the project evidences the energy independence efforts of the U.S. utilizing private and public partnership and technological progress. He added that the Agua Caliente system, while enabling hundreds of new employment creation will also support the ecological sustainability and economic growth of the country.