19 January 2016

First Solar and Southern California Edison sign power purchase agreements for 500MW

First Solar Inc of Tempe, AZ, USA, which makes thin-film photovoltaic modules based on cadmium telluride (CdTe) as well as providing engineering, procurement & construction (EPC) services, has signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Southern California Edison (SCE) for the off-take of electricity generated by four solar projects totaling 500MWAC of capacity. The deals establish SCE as the largest single off-taker of energy from First Solar projects in the world.

The PPAs are for power generated by four projects in California, Nevada and Arizona (all currently in development by First Solar, with anticipated commissioning by the end of 2019):

• the 150MWAC North Rosamond Solar Project in Rosamond, CA, which will occupy about 1175 acres of private land and produce about 488,000MWh/year; 

• 100MWAC from the Willow Springs Solar Project (near the North Rosamond Solar Project), which will occupy about 1450 acres of private land and produce about 330,000MHh/year;

• the 100MWAC Sunshine Valley Solar Project in Amargosa, NV (less than four miles from the California border, on privately owned land), which will produce about 302,000MWh/year; and 

• the 150MWAC Sun Streams Solar Project on about 1500 acres of land in Tonopah, AZ, which will produce about 464,000 MWh/year.

With these agreements, SCE has 2.2GW of solar capacity under contract from projects developed and/or built by First Solar. SCE's first PPA with a project developed by First Solar was for the 21MWAC Blythe Solar Project in 2009. The utility also has a long-term agreement for 250MWAC of capacity of the 550MWAC Desert Sunlight Solar Project in Desert Center, CA (commissioned in 2014). SCE has additional contracts in place for other projects currently in construction, including the Desert Stateline project in California and the Silver State South project in Nevada.

"As an early off-taker, SCE was visionary in their inclusion of utility-scale solar in their energy mix," comments Brian Kunz, First Solar's VP of project development - US West. "Their commitment to providing rate-payers with clean, affordable renewable energy continues with this set of agreements."

See related items:

First Solar agrees 250MW PV deal with Southern California Edison

Tags: First Solar Thin-film photovoltaic CdTe

Visit: www.firstsolar.com