Photovoltaic news and pv jobs

US: California fast tracks 750 MW PV project

California’s Governor, Jerry Brown has announced the fast tracking of NextEra Energy Resources LLC’s 750 MW photovoltaic project, set to be located in Riverside County, near Blythe.

The proposed site for the 750 MW McCoy Solar project.

NextEra Energy

The US$1 billion McCoy Solar Project has been granted expedited review under Governor Brown’s Jobs and Economic Improvement Act of 2011 (AB 900); the threefold aim of which is to cut red tape, create new jobs and generate clean energy.

The project, to be built, owned and operated by NextEra subsidiary, McCoy Solar, LLC on 4,315 acres of federal land and 477 acres of private land, is expected to generate enough energy to supply around 264,000 homes when complete.

Overall, construction is scheduled to take 46 months, and should create over 340 jobs. Meanwhile, up to 20 full time jobs will be created once the plant is operational. "Under the terms of the Governor’s certification, McCoy will invest a minimum of $100 million in California during construction," according to a statement released on Governor Brown’s website.

According to a Plan of Development submitted in August 2011, the photovoltaic project will be built over two phases. An initial 250 MW is set to be built by August 2014, with construction commencing in May 2013. The second phase is then expected to start when commercial operations have begun on the first and will see an additional 250 to 500 MW added. Work is expected to be completed by October 2016.