US solar manufacturer SunPower has revealed that it will build a 100 MW solar PV power plant for NV Energy in Nevada.
SunPower made the announcement on Thursday, revealing that it had signed a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with NV Energy in Nevada to build a 100 MW solar PV power plant in the Eldorado Valley of Boulder City, Nevada.
“Today, power generated from solar plants is cost-competitive with power from traditional, fossil fuel burning plants – and becoming more cost-competitive every day,” said Tom Werner, SunPower CEO and president. “Increasingly, utilities are adding solar to their energy mix to ensure their customers are taking advantage of the reliable and emission-free power of the sun. We are pleased to partner again with NV Energy to enable more Nevada homes and businesses to take advantage of the state’s abundant solar resource.”
This substantially increases SunPower’s activity in Nevada, which currently includes a 15 MW plant at Nellis Air Force Base, and a 19.9 MW plant in Lyon County. SunPower was also responsible for the 2007-completed 13.2 MW solar power plant at Nellis Air Force Base.
The new project, called Boulder Solar, is expected to create somewhere in the neighbourhood of 200 jobs throughout construction, and is anticipated to begin construction towards the end of 2015, and commercial operation planned for sometimes in 2016.
SunPower estimates that, upon operation, Boulder Solar will generate electricity equivalent to the needs of 15,000 households.
According to SunPower, upon completion the project is likely to be sold down to the joint-yieldco created between SunPower and First Solar, 8point3 Energy Partners. The two companies suffered mediocre quarterly results in the first quarter of this year as a result of holding on to projects they would normally have sold so that they can furnish their yieldco. However, 8point3’s IPO is expected to bring in upwards of $400 million.
Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Former Tesla Battery Expert Leading Lyten Into New Lithium-Sulfur Battery Era — Podcast:
I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps — gasp — grow. So ...
