First Solar Acquires Solar Project Development From Edison Mission Group
PV module maker First Solar will bolster the company's existing range of utility-scale, thin-film PV projects by taking on utility-scale solar projects in California and the Southwest.
Staff -- PV Society, 1/14/2010
First Solar's acquisition of part of the Edison Mission Group will bolster the company's existing range of thin-film PV projects.
First Solar Inc. (Tempe, Ariz.), which makes thin-film CdTe solar modules and provides utility systems, has wrapped up its partial acquisition of Edison Mission Group's (EMG, Irvine, Calif.) solar project development pipeline. First Solar will take on EMG's utility-scale solar projects in California and the Southwest.
"Acquiring the EMG development pipeline extends our leadership in the U.S. utility market," said Lisa Bodensteiner, First Solar vice president of business development for North America. "It builds on our strategy to cultivate robust and predictable module demand in utility-scale applications."
The acquisition complements First Solar's existing utility-scale thin- film PV solar work. The company's current projects are for the most part sited on public land, reach up to 550 MW in size, and are mostly under contract with utilities. By contrast, the EMG projects that First Solar is acquiring largely are sited on private land, range from 20 to 150 MW, and are not yet contracted. The two companies have partnered on the projects since 2008, with First Solar providing engineering, procurement and construction services and EMG handling land acquisition and permitting. With the acquisition made official, First Solar will take over all development functions.
First Solar completed development and construction of its first California utility-scale solar power plant in December 2009, the 21 MW AC Blythe project that was sold to NRG Energy and supplies electricity to Southern California Edison.
