GTM Research's Utility PV Market Tracker keeps tabs on all 500 plus utility scale solar projects in the United States, including Tenaska Solar Ventures Imperial Solar Energy Center.
Last week, Tenaska Solar Ventures selected First Solar as the technology provider and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor for the Imperial Solar Energy Center South.
The project has a proposed capacity of up to 200 megawatts, with 130 megawatts being sold under a 25-year power-purchase agreement to San Diego Gas & Electric. When at peak operation, the project will provide enough energy to power at least 44,000 California homes. Tenaska anticipates construction to begin by the end of 2011 on approximately 950 acres of U.S. Bureau of Land Management land in Imperial County, CA.
Also being developed by Tenaska is the nearby Solar Energy Center West. With a capacity of up to 250 megawatts, the project will use Soitec’s Concentrix concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) technology. Upon completion in 2015, the two projects, owned by CSOLAR Development, could supply up to 450 megawatts of energy.