The 150MW photovoltaic solar electric generating plant, Tenaska Imperial Solar Energy Center West, will be built near El Centro, California.
Tenaska has selected First Solar to design and build the new plant. The facility will use First Solar’s advanced thin-film PV modules with single-axis tracking.
Similar to its first 130-MW utility-scale solar plant, Tenaska Imperial Solar Energy Center South, which began operations on 1 November 2013, the latest plant will provide clean, renewable energy to San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) under a 25-yr power purchase deal through its Sunrise Powerlink transmission line.
In addition to these two projects, Tenaska has approximately 5,000MW of natural gas-fueled and renewable projects in pre-financing development.
Tenaska vice president and treasurer David Kirkwood said they have a 27-yr history of taking power projects from concept to reality and delivering them on time and within budget.
"Now we’re leveraging our experience developing natural gas-fueled power plants for solar electric generation. Tenaska Imperial Solar Energy Center West’s oversubscription and successful financing demonstrate the strength of the project," Kirkwood added.
First Solar is expecting to begin construction on Tenaska’s 17th power generation project in 2014, with completion scheduled for 2016.
Construction on Tenaska Imperial West project is likely to begin later in 2014, with commercial operation expected in 2016. Power generated from the project will be sold to San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) under a 25-year power purchase agreement via SDG&E’s Sunrise Powerlink transmission line.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, BNP Paribas, Royal Bank of Canada, Santander Bank, Helaba and DZ Bank led the bank group. Riverside Risk Advisors assisted Tenaska in designing and executing its interest rate risk management program.
