NRG Energy has closed the purchase of the California Valley Solar Ranch (CVSR), a 250-MW solar power project, from SunPower. The acquisition completed before the financial closing of the loan guarantee of the project from the Loan Programs Office of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
Construction of the CVSR project started in September 2011 with a scheduled date for partial operations during early 2012. The remaining operations of the project will start operations later on in 2012 and 2013. Once the construction is over, the project will generate power for roughly 100,000 houses.
The project’s sole ownership responsibility is now in the hands of NRG Energy. SunPower in partnership with Bechtel, which offers balance of procurement, plant engineering and construction services, will complete the design and development of the project. After the completion of the project, it will be jointly operated and managed by both SunPower and NRG Energy for the first two years, after then NRG Energy will solely manage and operate the project. NRG Energy also owns five more large-scale solar power projects in New Mexico, Arizona and California.
The Loan Programs Office of DOE has offered a loan guarantee worth up to $1.237 billion to the project. PG&E will sell the renewable, clean power generated from the CVSR project through a 25-year power purchase deals, which has secured the approval of the California Public Utilities Commission.