The US’s largest solar and wind project developer, NextEra, has placed the successful bid to purchase the unbuilt 1GW Blythe solar project in Riverside County, California. The plant is another of the projects – both built and unbuilt – being auctioned off from the assets of bankrupt Solar Trust of America. The agreed price of the project was not revealed.
First Solar has reached an agreement regarding the DoE loan funded AV Solar Ranch One in Antelope Valley, the company has announced. The company has resumed the installation of its PV modules at the PV plant after being forced to cease construction in order to deal with module code certification issues. First Solar and the Los Angeles Country Department of Public Works have now reached an agreement about the PV module installation and First Solar is able to continue constructing the 230MW project. Construction of the PV plant began in August 2011 and the project is expected to be completed in 2013.
Solar thermal project developer BrightSource Energy has placed the top bid for Palen, a 500MW solar thermal plant, at a Delaware auction of property of Solar Trust of America, which went bankrupt in April this year. The as-yet unbuilt solar thermal plant is said to have been bought by BrightSource for an unconfirmed amount of up to US$30 million.
Canadian solar power producer Etrion has opened an office in Santiago, Chile, the company has announced. The company is trying to break into the Chilean market and is currently in negotiations for a power purchase agreement (PPA) for the construction of a 5MW PV project in Chile. Etrion is expecting to sign more PPAs for possible PV projects throughout the year.
The Toshiba Corporation has announced that it will commence the construction of PV plants totaling 100MW in Minami Soma on the battered northeastern coastline where a tsunami and an earthquake caused the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl a year ago.
Solon Corporation has agreed to build a 1.15MW PV system for the Tanque Verde Unified School District (TVUSD) in Tucson, Arizona, the company has announced. The system will be installed across the four campuses of Tanque Verde High School and Elementary School, the Emily Gray Junior High School and the Agua Caliente Elementary School. Solon Corporation will design and construct the system and maintain its operation once completed; the energy generated will we sold to TVUSD under a 25-year PPA. The project is expected to commence operation in early 2013.
SunPower has completed a 1.8MW PV installation at the main building of Bloomberg’s New Jersey campus, the company has announced. The system is owned by Integrys Energy Services and Bloomberg will be buying the generated electricity at below-retail rates. The system is equipped with SunPower PV panels as well as the SunPower T0 tracker system.
bSolar, through its strategic partner and Japanese distributor TSBM, has won a contract to construct a 730kW ground-mounted solar project in Nasukarasuyama city, Tochigi, Japan. The project is expected to go online in December and will feature bSolar’s disruptive bifacial PV cells.
Conergy is collaborating with Ensunt for the construction of a 50MW PV project in Pakistan, the company has announced. The PV plant for the DACC Power Generation Company (DPGCL) will be the largest solar power plant in Pakistan. The project is located in Bahawalpur and is co-owned by DPGCL and the Pakistani government. Conergy will plan, design and engineer the project as well as providing the components while Ensunt is responsible for the construction of the plant.
Soitec has connected the largest Italian CPV plant to the grid, the company has announced. The company completed construction of a 1.17MW CPV plant in the municipality of Belpasso in Sicily. 74 Soitec CPV trackers have been installed, each equipped with 168 Concentric CPV modules and two 500kW inverters. The plant is owned and operated by Soitec and the energy will be sold to Enel.
