Duke Energy Renewables, a unit of Duke Energy, announced it has acquired the 150 MW North Rosamond solar project in Kern County, California from Clearway Energy Group.
The North Rosamond solar project is Duke Energy Renewables’ sixth solar generation facility in Kern County.
“North Rosamond is a great addition to our growing solar portfolio,” said Rob Caldwell, president of Duke Energy Renewables. “California is a leader in renewable energy, and we’re pleased to support their efforts by continuing to provide the state with cost-efficient renewable energy to meet residents’ needs.”
The U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation, the tax credit division of U.S. Bank; M&T Bank’s Commercial Equipment Finance Group; and Guardian Life Insurance Company of America provided tax equity financing to the project.
The 150-MW project, which contains over 477,000 solar panels, is located on approximately 1,188 acres outside of Rosamond, Calif. Construction is nearly complete and the project is expected to achieve commercial operation in early May. The North Rosamond project will be the largest solar project in Duke Energy Renewables’ fleet. It will power approximately 71,000 homes.
The energy generated from the North Rosamond solar project will be sold to Southern California Edison under a 15-year agreement.
The project employed as many as 500 individuals during the peak construction period.
The facility’s design, procurement of PV modules, inverters, balance of plant systems and construction of the project is being performed by First Solar Electric California’s engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) subsidiary under a fixed-price EPC agreement for the project.
Duke Energy is one of the nation’s top renewable energy providers – on track to own or purchase 8,000 megawatts of wind, solar and biomass energy by 2020.
