First Solar Awarded Contract To Build 250 MW California Solar Power Plant

Photovoltaic solar systems provider First Solar announced on Wednesday that they had entered into an agreement with a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources to build a 250 MW solar power plant in Riverside County, California.

To be built on approximately 2,300 acres of mostly public land allocated by the US Bureau of Land Management, the McCoy Solar Energy Project will be located nearly 13 miles northwest of Blythe, California.

“First Solar is pleased to have this opportunity to work again with NextEra,” said Roger Bredder, First Solar’s Director of Business Development for the U.S. “And we are proud to continue providing jobs in Riverside County.”

Set to begin construction late next year, the McCoy Solar Energy Project is hoped to be completed in late 2016, providing up to 400 construction jobs along the way.

First Solar recently acquired a similarly sized project in Nevada from K Road Power Holdings, which is set to be able to generate enough clean energy to power approximately 100,000 homes, providing a nice baseline for what the McCoy Solar Energy Project may be capable of. The Nevada project — the Moapa Solar Project — is set to begin construction as soon as the fourth quarter of this year with completion aimed at the end of 2015.

First Solar have a total of 19 solar projects worldwide, with the majority centred in North America, and boast nearly 3 GW of contracted solar projects worldwide. First Solar’s impressive and growing portfolio sees the company ranked as the second largest contractor in the global power sector according to Engineering News-Review.