The 290-Megawatt Agua Caliente Solar project by NRG Energy will now receive additional support from MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company. MidAmerican Energy Holdings will now acquire a 49% interest in the solar project.
290 Megawatt Caliente Project
The solar photovoltaic project is being developed in Arizona and is capable of offsetting 5.5 Mt of carbon dioxide over a period of 25 years by using the abundantly available solar energy for power generation and a power purchase agreement with PG&E for all its generated electricity for a long term.
The project construction is being done by First Solar, the project is expected to be completed by the year 2014. The U.S. Department of Energy is extending financial support for the project execution. Steel posts are being used for supporting the PV panels. In order to ensure that maximum sunlight is captured, tile brackets have been used for providing the right angle for assembling the panels. The solar panels are mounted on the steel frames and electrical connection is established between them. By using inverters, the DC energy output from the panels is converted to AC electricity. The transmission of power is done through underground cables. The PV Combining Switchgear collects the power from the multiple array blocks.
MidAmerican Energy Holdings has come forward to support the project following NRG’s announcement to bring in quality projects into the projects. The partnership is awaiting approval from the U.S. Department of Energy.