Spanning across 4,700-acre site in San Luis Obispo County, the project was acquired by NRG Energy from SunPower in 2011 and is jointly owned by NRG Yield with 48.95% stake.
Solar arrays, substation and facility buildings cover only 30% of the site, while the remaining site is conserved and managed to meet conservation objectives for a range of species.
The project, featuring nine solar PV arrays, has secured a federal loan guarantee for $1.2bn from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office.
The project also features SunPower Oasis power plant, a fully integrated, modular solar power block that will help efficiently deploy utility-scale solar projects while optimizing land use.
Pacific Gas & Electric will buy the project’s output under two long-term power purchase agreements that will help meet its renewable energy delivery requirement as required by California’s renewable portfolio standard.
The project has started construction in September 2011, creating around 700 jobs during two-year construction period and injecting around $315m into the local economy, and commenced delivering the first 22MW power to PG&E’s transmission lines in October 2012.
SunPower designed and provided engineering, procurement and construction services for the project, which will generate enough electricity to power 100,000 homes and curb more than 336,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually.
The project will be jointly operated by SunPower and NRG Energy for the initial two years and subsequently, NRG Energy will assume the entire responsibility for operating the site.
