Greentech Lead America: MidAmerican Solar and SunPower have started a major construction at the Antelope Valley Solar Projects – two projects co-located in Kern and Los Angeles counties in California.
The 579-megawatt development will employ approximately 650 workers during a three-year construction period; generate more than $500 million in regional economic impact, the majority of which will be generated during construction; and serve California’s growing electricity demand with clean, renewable solar power.
The Antelope Valley Solar Projects make up the world’s largest solar power development under construction, the company said. When complete, the projects will provide enough energy to power approximately 400,000 average California homes.
The Antelope Valley Solar Projects are owned by MidAmerican Solar. SunPower designed and developed the projects and is the engineering, procurement and construction contractor. SunPower also will provide operations and maintenance services for the plants via a multiyear services agreement.
The Antelope Valley Solar Projects will provide renewable energy to Southern California Edison under two long-term power purchase contracts.
At the 3,230-acre site, SunPower is installing the SunPower Oasis Power Plant product, fully integrated, modular solar technology that is engineered to rapidly deploy utility-scale solar projects while minimizing land use.
The Oasis product uses high-efficiency SunPower solar panels mounted on SunPower T0 Trackers, which position the panels to track the sun during the day, increasing energy capture by up to 25 percent. Construction began in January 2013 and is expected to be complete by year-end 2015.
Electricity generated by the projects will displace approximately 775,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year – the equivalent of taking approximately 3 million cars off the road over the next 20 years.