By SeeNews Renewables — SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR) has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Turlock Irrigation District (TID) for a 54-MW solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant in California.
The US solar major said today that to serve the contract it will start building the plant on its Rosamond Solar site in Kern County this month, with the launch of operations expected by the end of 2016. The company will also start construction this month on another 54-MW plant to serve Stanford University, announced earlier this year, at the Rosamond Solar site, which may support up to a total of 300 MW of solar generation.
By buying solar power from SunPower’s plant, TID expects to move some 7% closer to meeting the state of California’s recently increased Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) of 50% renewables by 2030.
“While asset ownership has been the approach for nearly all of TID’s other power generation facilities, this long-term power purchase agreement is competitively priced with conventional energy sources and will also allow the district to benefit indirectly from federal tax incentives set to be reduced at the end of 2016,” said TID general manager Casey Hashimoto.
The solar power purchase was approved by TID’s board in March after a comprehensive bidding and study process, according to the announcement.
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SeeNews Renewables goes beyond the familiar renewable markets of Western Europe and the US to encompass the potential of BRIC counties and emerging investment destinations in North Africa, the Asia Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe. SeeNews Renewables is covering all renewable energy sources: wind, solar, hydropower, biomass, geothermal and marine energy.
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