First Solar may win a contract to supply the solar panels required to construct the world’s largest solar power farm for NextEra Energy Incorporated (NEE). The electricity generation capacity of this plant will be 1,000 MW (1 million kilowatts).
NextEra is considering First Solar’s cadmium telluride solar technology for the construction of this Blythe project, which is in Southern California, according to a document filed with the California Energy Commission.
First Solar is a manufacturer of thin-film CdTe (cadmium telluride) solar panels. Cadmium telluride is a combination of the elements cadmium and tellurium. The company also designs and constructs solar power stations.
According to Ben Schuman, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities in Portland, Oregon: First Solar may be the only manufacturer with the production capacity required to supply enough solar panels to NextEra.
“It would definitely be a positive for First Solar if they were able to win a 1,000-megawatt project,” said Schuman.
NexEra hasn’t yet decided on a supplier, and might obtain solar panels from multiple suppliers according to Stephen Stengel, a NextEra spokesperson. This is an unusually large solar farm. Even a 400-MW solar farm is unusually large, and this is 2.5 times that size.
NextEra received approval on June 27 from a bankruptcy court to purchase Blythe from the former developer, the bankrupt SolarTrust of America LLC.
NextEra is a Juno Beach, Florida–based power company. First Solar is based in Tempe, Arizona.
First Solar is already working with another power company on another large power plant, the 550-MW Desert Sunlight solar farm in Riverside County, California. It is jointly owned by General Electric Co. and NextEra.
Source: Bloomberg
Image Credit: First Solar
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