NRG Solar LLC (Carlsbad, California, U.S.) has bought a 25.6 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) project on the island of Guam in the western Pacific Ocean from an affiliate of Quantum Utility Generation LLC (QUG, Houston, Texas, U.S.).
NRG will build, own and operate the PV plant, as well as selling all of the electricity generated to utility Guam Power Authority (Harmon, Guam) under two 25-year power purchase agreements. Guam currently relies on imported fuel oil and diesel to meet its entire electricity demand, at prices which are both high and volatile.
“NRG Solar has been focused on reducing the levelized cost of solar energy in both the utility and distributed solar markets,” said NRG Solar President and CEO Tom Doyle. “Our focus has been on driving down the balance of system costs through in-house engineering, procurement and construction, as well as through creative financing strategies on well-developed projects.”
“The result of this effort provides us with opportunities like the Guam project which was successfully-developed by QUG and is now ready for NRG Solar to assume long-term ownership of the project. We are proud to partner with GPA in paving the road for the development of this and other renewable energy capacity on Guam.”
According to GPA estimates, the project will provide net savings of USD 100 million. NRG Solar, a subsidiary of NRG Energy Inc. (Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.), expects to complete the project in 2014.
The project includes upgrades to an existing substation as well as construction of a new substation and an 11 km of underground transmission line.
Under a 2008 US federal law, the territory of Guam is required to meet 25% of its electricity demand with renewable energy generation.