4 November 2011

First Solar to build, operate and maintain 66MW Alpine Solar Project for NRG

First Solar Inc of Tempe, AZ, USA, which manufactures thin-film photovoltaic modules based on cadmium telluride (CdTe), has agreed to provide engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services for the 66MW (AC) Alpine solar project in Lancaster, CA of NRG Energy Inc of Princeton. NJ. The firm will also provide operations and maintenance (O&M) services. Construction is expected to start before the end of 2011 and be completed in third-quarter 2012, creating an estimated 250 jobs over the course of construction.

Electricity from the Alpine project in Los Angeles County will be sold under a 20-year power purchase agreement with Pacific Gas and Electric Company, helping California to meet its ambitious renewable energy goals.

The electricity generated by Alpine is enough to serve a yearly average of nearly 25,000 homes, and more than double that number at maximum capacity during peak hours of the day. The project is expected to offset about 1.5 million metric tons of greenhouse gases over 20 years (equivalent to taking more than 15,000 cars off the road annually).

“Less than two years ago, NRG and First Solar began our productive collaboration for our first solar plant at Blythe, which at 21MW was the largest solar plant in California at the time,” says Tom Doyle, president of NRG’s Solar and West Region. “Alpine is three times that size, so we’ve really come a long way together in a short amount of time,” he adds. NRG subsidiary NRG Solar has more than 2000MW of PV and solar thermal projects under development or in construction across the southwestern USA.

“Our experience developing and building out our 2.7GW North American pipeline of utility-scale PV projects enables us to get our customers’ projects rapidly completed and connected to the grid,” comments Jim Lamon, First Solar’s senior VP for EPC and O&M.

Tags: First Solar Thin-film photovoltaic CdTe

Visit: www.firstsolar.com

Visit: www.nrgsolarenergy.com