New Energy Solar has acquired a substantial majority interest in two large-scale solar projects from SunPower.
The projects, totally over 134 megawatts (MW), are located in Kern County, California.
At both sites, SunPower installed the SunPower Oasis Power Plant technology, a fully integrated, modular solar power block that is engineered to rapidly and cost-effectively deploy large solar projects while maximizing power generation and optimizing land use.
SunPower will retain an ownership interest in the projects, which each having a capacity of 67.4 MWs, and provide ongoing operation and maintenance services.
Stanford University has signed a long-term agreement to purchase 100 percent of the power, as well as the renewable energy credits (RECs), generated from one of the projects, the Stanford Solar Generating Station.
Turlock Irrigation District (TID) has a similar agreement to buy the power and RECs generated from the second project, the TID Solar Generating Station.
“We believe the quality of these projects, both in terms of SunPower’s leading technology and their highly creditworthy off-takers make them excellent additions to our portfolio,” said New Energy Solar CEO Tom Kline.
Both Stanford University and TID will use the renewable power generated in Kern County to serve electricity demand approximately 300 miles away.
“Stanford University and TID are using an innovative model called off-site solar to meet their renewable energy goals and serve their constituencies with cost-competitive emission-free solar power,” said Nam Nguyen, SunPower senior vice president.
Construction of both projects commenced in the middle of 2015. Both facilities are expected to achieve commercial operation this month.
These two projects are expected to generate a five-year average yield of approximately 6.5 percent per annum. With the addition of the California projects, New Energy Solar will own a portfolio of over 200MW DC of large scale solar farms.