PG&E Corp said on Monday it would buy the first 10 megawatts to be generated by Sempra at a First Solar-built thin-film plant in Nevada, which is already North America's largest but should quickly expand.
Driven by local politics and anticipated government requirements for renewable energy, many U.S. utilities are considering such installations because thin film modules need only 1 percent of the silicon used in crystalline solar cells.
"The size and scope of this new solar generation facility clearly demonstrates that we can build projects on a scale that helps utilities meet their renewable energy goals," said Michael Allman, chief executive of Sempra Generation, the unit of Sempra Energythat owns the new project.
The El Dorado Energy Solar project, started in July and due to fire up next week, was built on 80 acresnext to Sempra's 480-MW natural gas-fired plant near Boulder City, about 40 miles southeast of Las Vegas.
Sempra has enough land to build another 50 MW of capacity at the site, and planned to have that completed by some time next year, Allman told Reuters in a phone interview, as part of a drive for the company to produce 500 MW eventually.
Shares of First Solar Inc , after falling 5.5 percent to $133.01 in regular trade in a broadly weaker U.S. stock market, edged up to $133.58 in after-hours trade.
Solar power has not yet taken off in the United States as it has in Europe, though experts believe the country has the potential to become the world's largest solar power market.
El Dorado's 167,000 modules will pump out enough juice at their peak to power 6,400 homes, Sempra said. PG&E said the 23.2 gigawatt-hours produced every year is enough for 3,360 homes.
By either measure, that is just a tiny fraction of the 15 million Californians who get power from Pacific Gas and Electric Company, though San Francisco-based parent PG&E has contracts for more than a fifth of its future power to come from renewable sources.
The contract with San Diego-based Sempra for the 10 MW of solar power runs for 20 years.
First Solar, based in Tempe, Arizona, was the main contractor for the El Dorado solar plant and will provide maintenance over its lifetime.
