NRG Energy, Inc. through its subsidiaries including NRG Yield, Inc. and NRG Solar, one of the nation’s largest solar developers, now owns and operates more than 1.2 GW of solar capacity. Through these facilities, NRG helps power nearly one million homes at full output with clean, renewable solar energy, which is helping reinvent the US energy ecosystem.
“The completion of our most ambitious projects yet, and the commercial availability of the clean power they produce, clearly positions NRG as one of the largest and most progressive companies in the energy space today,” said Tom Doyle, President, NRG Solar. “As we look forward to 2014 and beyond, we’ll continue to help reshape the US energy landscape with our thriving renewable energy portfolio, as well as looking at more opportunities outside the US.”
NRG Solar’s portfolio of thermal and PV projects has more than doubled since the end of 2012. NRG Solar’s four largest projects have all achieved full completion in the past 10 months:
- Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (392MW): The world’s largest concentrated solar thermal power (CSP) plant.
- Agua Caliente (290MW): A large solar PV plant which can provide energy for more than 230,000 homes at peak capacity
- California Valley Solar Ranch (250MW): Producing energy for 200,000 homes at peak capacity
- Alpine (66MW): The first large-scale solar plant built in Los Angeles County
This year, NRG has already completed PV installations at four stadiums and will be working on the fifth one as well as PV installations for communities, rooftops and other projects. It also began a philanthropic effort in Haiti and launched Guam’s first solar facility – the 25MW installation “Dandan.” Last month, NRG also announced an agreement with Virgin Limited Edition to power Necker Island with a renewable energy-driven micro-grid solution.
As a whole, the solar electric market continued its upward trajectory in 2013. In the US 4.75GW of solar PV was installed in 2013, up 41% over 2012 and nearly 15 times the amount installed in 2008. Twenty-nine percent of all new electricity generation capacity added this year in the US came from solar – with seven states getting 100% of their new generation from solar. California, where NRG Solar is headquartered, leads the nation in installed solar generation with 5.23 GW.
According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), a new solar project is installed in the US every four minutes, and the nearly 13 GW of solar energy generated on American soil displaces approximately 12.6 million metric tons of carbon annually, the equivalent of removing 2.6 million cars from the road. The industry is on pace for another record year, with close to 6 GW of PV and nearly 900 MW of concentrating solar power (CSP) scheduled to come online in 2014.
