4 October 2011

North County Watch and Carrizo Commons dismiss lawsuit against First Solar’s Topaz Solar Farm

Topaz Solar Farms LLC, a subsidiary of First Solar Inc of Tempe, AZ, USA, which makes cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film photovoltaic (PV) modules and provides engineering, procurement & construction (EPC) services, has reached an agreement for North County Watch and Carrizo Commons to dismiss their lawsuit against the 550MW Topaz Solar Farm project that First Solar is developing in San Luis Obispo County, CA, USA.

Topaz has committed to the decommissioning and restoration of habitat at the project site after 35 years of operation. It will also place a conservation easement on the land and provide an endowment for managing the land in perpetuity. In addition to providing a timeframe for decommissioning and restoration, the agreement provides enhanced communication, collaboration, research and monitoring measures, including a Biological Working Group.

Combined with other off-site lands that Topaz is conserving, the agreement will support the preservation of about 22,000 acres to be protected in perpetuity following the end of project operations.

First Solar said on 22 September that the Topaz Solar Farm project would not meet the 30 September statutory deadline to receive a federal loan guarantee from the US Department of Energy (DOE). The firm also said that it was in advanced talks regarding the sale and financing of the project with potential buyers utilizing a different transaction structure that does not require a DOE loan guarantee.

Topaz is expected to create an average of 400 jobs during the three-year construction process and use modules from First Solar’s Perrysburg, OH, and Mesa, AZ factories. Upon completion, it is expected to generate enough solar electricity to power about 160,000 average California homes (displacing about 377,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year).

Tags: First Solar Thin-film photovoltaic CdTe

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