The Tempe, Arizona-based firm — which will continue to build and subsequently operate and maintain the project under separate agreements — has sold the project to affiliates of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, s subsidiary of NextEra Energy, Inc. and GE Energy Financial Services.
First Solar estimates the project will provide enough clean, affordable energy to power approximately 160,000 California homes and displace 300,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year — equivalent to taking 60,000 cars off the road.
The project is located 35 miles west of Blythe and six miles north of Desert Center in the Chuckwalla Valley on approximately 3,800 acres — with 200 more acres for related infrastructure — of largely vacant land managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
First Solar will install its advanced thin-film PV modules, which convert sunlight into electricity without producing emissions or waste or using water.
First Solar will supply some modules from a new $300 million factory it is building in Mesa, Arizona. Project construction began this month, with full commercial operation expected by the first quarter of 2015.
Affiliates of NextEra Energy Resources and GE Energy Financial Services have each acquired 50 percent of the Desert Sunlight project. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. A NextEra Energy Resources affiliate will manage the project.
"First Solar is excited about the sale of such a groundbreaking PV solar project, which will have profound environmental and economic benefits," said Frank De Rosa, First Solar Senior Vice President of Business Development—Americas. "We look forward to working closely with the new owners as we build and operate the facility, bringing jobs, renewable power and energy security to California and the United States."
The Desert Sunlight project's power will be sold under two long-term power purchase agreements: a 250-megawatt agreement with Southern California Edison and a 300-megawatt agreement with Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
The U.S. Department of Energy Loan Program Office on September 29 approved a loan guarantee for the project.
The project will not receive any cash from the government through the loan guarantee; rather the DOE is partially guaranteeing $1.46 billion in loans provided by a syndicate of private institutional investors and commercial banks headed by lead lenders Goldman Sachs Lending Partners LLC and Citigroup.
"We are pleased to be able to expand our position as North America's leading generator of solar power," said NextEra Energy Resources President and CEO Mitch Davidson. "Acquiring a 50 percent interest in the Desert Sunlight project is consistent with our strategy to add fully contracted clean energy to our portfolio."
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