New Energy Solar has acquired a 49 percent interest in the Boulder Solar I Facility (Boulder), an operational 125 MWDC project in Clarke County, Nev., from SunPower Corp. (SunPower). New Energy Solar will fund the acquisition with $55 million from cash reserves.
Boulder has been operating for over 12 months, selling 100 percent of the power and renewable energy credits generated to NV Energy under a 20-year power purchase agreement. NV Energy, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, is a major utility serving more than 1.2 million customers across a territory covering 90 percent of Nevada.
Boulder is a renewable energy asset, generating more than 279,000-megawatt hours of electricity annually. The electricity generated by Boulder is one of the energy sources that has allowed Las Vegas to become the largest U.S. city to rely solely on renewable energy for city facilities. The quantity of electricity generated by Boulder is equivalent to displacing more than 210,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions, powering 28,500 homes, or removing 50,000 cars from the road, every year.
“Nevada has strong economic growth, an excellent solar resource and a progressive regulatory regime that is favorable to renewable energy,” said New Energy Solar CEO, John Martin.
Southern Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company and one of the largest integrated energy companies in the United States, acquired its 51 percent interest in Boulder during the plant’s construction in 2016. Southern Power will provide asset management services and SunPower will continue to provide operations and maintenance services.
After the transaction is completed, New Energy Solar will own interests in a diversified 350 MWDC portfolio of operational, large-scale solar power plants.
New Energy Solar was established in November 2015 to invest in a diversified portfolio of solar assets across the globe and help investors benefit from the global shift to renewable energy.