FSLR News - UPDATE: Southern Co., Turner Enter
Post# of 29735
UPDATE: Southern Co., Turner Enterprises Buy California Solar Farm
--Southern Co., Turner Enterprise units buy 139-megawatt solar farm
--First Solar building the facility near Centro, Calif.
--Facility has long-term contract with Sempra Energy's San Diego utility
(Adds ownership split in the fourth paragraph.)
By Cassandra Sweet
Units of Southern Co. (SO) and Turner Enterprises Inc. have bought a 139-megawatt solar farm in the California desert from First Solar Inc. (FSLR), the companies said Tuesday.
Southern's wholesale power subsidiary made the purchase, along with the renewable-energy unit of privately held Turner Enterprises.
The solar farm, being built near El Centro, Calif., is scheduled to be completed this fall and will generate enough electricity to serve about 48,000 homes, the companies said. The facility will sell the power it generates to Sempra Energy's (SRE) San Diego utility under a 20-year contract.
The companies declined to disclose the sale price. Southern Power owns 90% of the facility, while Turner Renewable Energy owns 10%, a spokesman for Southern Co. said.
The installed cost of U.S. utility-scale solar farms in the U.S. averaged about $2.27 a watt at the end of 2012, according to a March survey by GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association.
At that level, the El Centro solar farm would cost roughly $315.5 million to build.
Southern Power and Turner Renewable Energy have partnered on previous solar farm purchases, including a 30-megawatt facility in New Mexico; 20-megawatt and 30-megawatt solar farms in Nevada; and a 2.5-megawatt solar facility in North Carolina, the companies said.
Write to Cassandra Sweet at cassandra.sweet@dowjones.com
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