NRG Energy, SunPower Energize First 22 Megawatts of
250-Megawatt California Valley Solar Ranch
PRINCETON, N.J. & SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct 24, 2012 -- BUSINESS
WIRE
NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG) and SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ:
SPWR) will celebrate today the first 22 megawatts (MW) of the
250-MW California Valley Solar Ranch (CVSR) being delivered to
the electrical grid.
CVSR is one of the largest central station photovoltaic solar
plants in the world. It has created approximately 350 jobs since
construction started in September 2011, and is expected to
inject $315 million into the local economy over its two-year
construction period. NRG completed the acquisition of CVSR on
September 30, 2011.
Once completed, CVSR will power a yearly average of 100,000
homes with clean, renewable solar energy, while protecting and
conserving more than 12,000 acres of land in and around the
Carrizo Plain in southeastern San Luis Obispo County, about 100
miles northwest of Los Angeles. Electricity from CVSR is being
sold to PG&E through 25-year power purchase agreements.
"The private sector's role is to demonstrate successful
performance that speeds commercialization of technology--on time
and on budget--and that's what we're doing at CVSR and all of
NRG's major solar projects," said Tom Doyle, president of NRG
Solar and NRG's West Region. "Equally important, through large
scale deployment, the private sector is accelerating cost
reductions through supply chain improvements, lower balance of
system costs and progress through experience that can't be
achieved at the lab bench or in the factory."
NRG is the sole owner of the project, which is expected to be
fully online by December 2013. SunPower designed the project,
and is working with Bechtel to provide balance of plant
engineering and procurement services and construction services.
Once completed, NRG and SunPower will jointly operate and
maintain CVSR for two years, after which NRG assumes sole
responsibility.
"We congratulate NRG and SunPower on this important milestone
at the California Valley Solar Ranch," said Fong Wan, senior
vice president, energy procurement, Pacific Gas and Electric
Company. "PG&E provides to its customers some of the cleanest
electricity in the nation, more than half of which comes from
sources that are renewable or carbon free. This project will
play an important role in our efforts to meet California's 33%
renewable portfolio standard and make progress towards a clean
energy future for all Californians."
"We are very pleased that CVSR is now delivering 22 megawatts
of cost-competitive solar power in San Luis Obispo County, while
creating jobs and economic opportunity for the local community,"
said Howard Wenger, SunPower president, regions. "Once the
project is completed next year, SunPower's world-leading
high-efficiency technology and history of reliable performance
will maximize the solar energy delivered to PG&E's customers
over the life of the system."
"The companies have worked very hard with county staff,
resource agencies, environmental organizations and the local
community to construct a renewable energy facility while
protecting the unique and sensitive landscape of the Carrizo
Plain," said Jim Patterson, chairman of the San Luis Obispo
County Board of Supervisors. "We appreciate both the local and
global environmental and economic benefits this project has
brought to our county."
NRG has four large-scale solar plants fully or partially
operational and three other projects currently under
construction across California, Arizona and New Mexico, plus
several distributed solar projects at locations across the
country. In the U.S., approximately 190 megawatts of large-scale
SunPower plants are operating, with more than 1,000 megawatts
under contract.
About NRG and NRG Solar
NRG is at the forefront of changing how people think about
and use energy. A Fortune 500 company, NRG is a pioneer in
developing cleaner and smarter energy choices for our customers:
whether as one of the largest solar power developers in the
country, or by building the first privately funded electric
vehicle charging infrastructure or by giving customers the
latest smart energy solutions to better manage their energy use.
Our diverse power generating facilities can support over 20
million homes and our retail electricity providers--Reliant,
Green Mountain Energy Company and Energy Plus--serve more than
two million customers.
NRG Solar LLC, a subsidiary of NRG, has more than 2,000 MW of
photovoltaic and solar thermal projects under development or in
construction across the southwestern United States. More
information is available at www.nrgenergy.com.
Safe Harbor Disclosure
This news release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such
forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks,
uncertainties and assumptions and include NRG's expectations
regarding the California Valley Solar Ranch project and
forward-looking statements typically can be identified by the
use of words such as "will," "expect," "believe," and similar
terms. Although NRG believes that its expectations are
reasonable, it can give no assurance that these expectations
will prove to have been correct, and actual results may vary
materially. Factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those contemplated above include, among others,
general economic conditions, hazards customary in the power
industry, weather conditions, competition in wholesale power
markets, the volatility of energy and fuel prices, failure of
customers to perform under contracts, changes in the wholesale
power markets, changes in government regulation of markets and
of environmental emissions, unanticipated outages at our
generation facilities, the inability to access other financing
arrangements, the inability to implement value enhancing
improvements to plant operations and companywide processes, our
ability to create and maintain successful partnering
relationships.
NRG undertakes no obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise. The foregoing review of
factors that could cause NRG's actual results to differ
materially from those contemplated in the forward-looking
statements included in this news release should be considered in
connection with information regarding risks and uncertainties
that may affect NRG's future results included in NRG's filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov.
About SunPower
SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) designs, manufactures and
delivers the highest efficiency, highest reliability solar
panels and systems available today. Residential, business,
government and utility customers rely on the company's quarter
century of experience and guaranteed performance to provide
maximum return on investment throughout the life of the solar
system. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., SunPower has offices
in North America, Europe, Australia, Africa and Asia. For more
information, visit www.sunpowercorp.com.
SunPower's Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Forward-looking statements are statements that do not
represent historical facts and may be based on underlying
assumptions. SunPower uses words and phrases such as "expected,"
"will" and similar expressions to identify forward-looking
statements in this press release, including forward-looking
statements regarding (a) the construction schedule and budget;
(b) energy production; and (c) SunPower building, operating and
maintaining the power system. Such forward-looking statements
are based on information available to SunPower as of the date of
this release and involve a number of risks and uncertainties,
some beyond SunPower's control, that could cause actual results
to differ materially from those anticipated by these
forward-looking statements, including risks and uncertainties
such as: (i) construction difficulties or potential delays,
including obtaining land use rights, permits, license, other
governmental approvals, and transmission access and upgrades,
and any litigation relating thereto; (ii) the risk of
continuation of supply of products and components from
suppliers; (iii) unanticipated problems with deploying the
system on the site; and (iv) other risks described in SunPower's
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 1, 2012,
Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended April 1,
2012 and July 1, 2012, and other filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements should not
be relied upon as representing SunPower's views as of any
subsequent date, and SunPower is under no obligation to, and
expressly disclaims any responsibility to, update or alter its
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available:
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50453622&lang=en
SOURCE: NRG Energy, Inc.
News Provided By