PSEG Solar Source completed the acquisition of a 25.2 MW DC (19 MW AC) solar project developed by juwi solar Inc. The PSEG Queen Creek Solar Farm is expected to begin construction in January 2012 and be completed in the 3rd quarter of 2012. The project will be located on158 acres of land approximately 30 miles southeast of Phoenix Arizona. PSEG Solar Source paid approximately $75 million for the project.
The PSEG Queen Creek Solar Farm will use crystalline panels and a single axis tracking system. In September 2011, the Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District entered into a long term power purchase agreement to acquire all of the solar energy generated by the project for 20 years.
Under separate agreements, juwi solar Inc. will engineer, procure, and construct the facility as well as perform operation and maintenance services for the project. The project will be owned by PSEG Solar Source, a subsidiary of PSEG, a diversified energy company based in New Jersey.
“PSEG Solar Source is pleased to add the PSEG Queen Creek Solar Farm to our portfolio of high quality solar projects,” said Diana Drysdale, president of PSEG Solar Source. “PSEG Solar Source will continue to seek opportunities throughout the US to provide clean, emissions-free solar energy and to help states meet their solar and renewable targets.”
“juwi solar is proud to have closed its fourth deal in the United States with PSEG Solar Source, a company that is well-established in the utility-scale solar market,” said Michael Martin, CEO of juwi solar Inc. “Our project development efforts for the Queen Creek project have been a great success, and we now look forward to building and operating a project in one of the most exciting solar markets in the United States.”
This is the fourth solar project for PSEG Solar Source. It currently owns:
——The PSEG Wyandot Solar farm – a 12.0 MW DC solar farm in Wyandot, Ohio
——The PSEG Jacksonville Solar Farm – a 15.0 MW DC solar farm on 100 acres in Jacksonville, Florida
——The Mars Solar Garden – a 2.2 MW DC facility located adjacent to the Mars Snackfood’s US headquarters in New Jersey
PSEG Solar Source is one of two PSEG subsidiaries active in solar energy. PSEG’s regulated gas and electric utility in New Jersey, PSE&G, currently owns 52 MW of solar in New Jersey, consisting of 18 solar farms and more than 150,000 pole attached solar panels. In addition PSE&G is administering a $105 million solar loan program.