NRG Solar, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NRG Energy Inc., and its partner MidAmerican Solar unveiled the substantial completion at their Agua Caliente Solar Photovoltaic Facility, a 290 MW PV facility located on 2,400 acres of land in Arizona. The electricity that is generated by the station is being sold to Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) under a 25-year power purchase agreement.
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“Large-scale utility accomplishments, like our Agua Caliente project, raise the bar in terms of our clean-energy technology and production,” said Tom Doyle, president, NRG Solar. “Proving that we can build both the world’s largest solar thermal and now one of the world’s largest solar photovoltaic facilities advance NRG’s mission to reshape the energy landscape that is incredibly beneficial to both the economy and in how we produce and consume energy.”
The Agua Caliente project uses clean solar power to avoid the annual emission of approximately 324,000 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which is the equivalent of taking nearly 70,000 cars off the road. The creation of 400 jobs during the project’s construction provided a boost to the local economy and it benefits the environment by producing clean, renewable energy. The project received a $967 million loan guarantee from the US Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office.
“In 2012, our company made a commitment to invest in its first utility-scale solar project to foster economic development while demonstrating our commitment to the environment,” said Richard Weech, chief financial officer, MidAmerican Renewables, who also oversees the activities of MidAmerican Solar. “It is exciting to see this project become fully operational and begin to realize the full benefit of emissions savings with the clean energy generated at Agua Caliente.”
The Agua Caliente Solar Project was named Solar Project of the Year by Renewable Energy World, and PV Project of the Year by Solar Power Generation USA. Agua Caliente is the largest of 10 operational utility-scale solar PV facilities in three states in which NRG has ownership interest. Agua Caliente is also one of several NRG assets that are subject to a Right of First Offer Agreement between NRG and its publicly owned subsidiary, NRG Yield, Inc. First Solar, Inc. designed and constructed the project using its advanced thin-film PV modules and will operate and maintain the facility for NRG and MidAmerican Solar.