A consortium headed by GE Energy Financial Services has completed an equity investment in the 143MW Catalina Solar PV power station in Rosamund, California.
GE Energy Financial Services, the energy investment division of US conglomerate General Electric, made the investment together with Citi, Union Bank and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. The group of investors bought their first stake in the project from developer EDF Renewable Energy in late 2012 as the first 60MW phase went online. GE Energy Financial Services to date has invested in 1GW of PV capacity across 50 projects.
The plant is built with 82MW of Solar Frontier CIGS panels and 61MW of First Solar modules, on a 445-hectare site in the Mojave Desert. It became fully operational in August this year and the structure of the investment owned by the GE Energy-led group has been converted to a single investor lease. Financial details of the latest transaction have not been disclosed.
EDF Renewable Energy will continue to maintain and operate the plant, with electricity sold under a 25 year power purchase agreement (PPA) to San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E).
