DOE Awards First Solar $4.5B in Loan Guarantees $FSLR
Energy Boom
The Department of Energy announced that it will support three First Solar Inc. (Nasdaq: FSLR) photovoltaic (PV) solar installations in California with a combined US$4.5 billion in loan guarantees.
The DOE has offered a conditional loan guarantees to the following First Solar sponsored solar projects:
- Antelope Valley Solar Ranch 1 project has been awarded US$680million . Located just outside of Los Angeles, the 230 MW solarinstallation is expected to generate enough electricity to power 54,000homes.
- Desert Sunlight project has been awarded a partial loan guarantee of US1.88 billion. Located on public land in Riverside County, the 550 MWproject will be built in two phases. Phase I will have a generatingcapacity of 300 MW and Phase II will generate 250 MW. When fullyoperational the project will produce electricity equivalent to powering110,000 homes.
- Topaz Solar project has been awarded a partial loan guarantee ofUS$1.93 billion. Like the Desert Sunlight project, the 550 MW TopazSolar installation project, located in San Luis Obispo County, willgenerate enough electricity to power 110,000 homes.
Based out of Arizona, First Solar will provide all three projectswith Cd-Te thin film solar PV modules some of which will be manufactured at a brand new facility being constructed in Ohio. With the exceptionof Desert Sunlight Phase II, the three solar farms will deliver theelectricity they generate to Pacific Gas & Electric through longterm power purchase agreements. Energy generated from Desert SunlightPhase II will be sold to Southern California Edison.
Already one of the world’s leading manufacturer of PV solar modules,First Solar continues to grow its installed solar generating capacity.This financial backing represents support for over 1.3 GW of solarenergy generation — just over half of the 2.4 GW portfolio the companyanticipates to have installed by the end 2011.
"These projects will bring immediate jobs to California in additionto hundreds more across the supply chain," said Energy Secretary StevenChu.
He added, "Together the projects will power hundreds of thousands ofhomes with clean, renewable power and increase our globalcompetitiveness in the clean energy economy."
Image Credit: First Solar
Original Article on EnergyBoom
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