Project Overview

Desert Sunlight Solar Farm is a 550 MW solar farm in eastern Riverside County, California, United States of America. It is one of the biggest solar farms in the US, built in two phases, the first phase with a 300 MW capacity and the second with a 250 MW capacity. It is developed using First Solar’s 3 thin-film cadmium-telluride solar modules. It is owned by NextEra Energy with a 50% stake and NRG Energy and California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) with a share of 25% each. It is financed under the Loan Programs Office (LPO) of the Department of Energy.

Project Background

The Desert Sunlight solar project is one of the largest solar farms in the US. It generates about 1,060,000 megawatt-hours of clean energy per year. The Desert Sunlight Solar Farm, or the DSSF project, includes three components: a solar farm, a transmission line, and a Red Bluff Substation owned by Southern California Edison (SCE). 

This project was developed by First Solar on land administered under the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), located at the I-10 freeway in eastern Riverside County, California. The solar farm is built using 70,000 metric tons of American steel and 8.9 million First Solar's 3 thin-film cadmium-telluride solar modules.

It has a transmission corridor that includes a 230-kV transmission line that connects the Solar Farm site in the South to the Red Bluff substation near I-10. This substation is further connected to the existing SCE Devers-Palo Verde 1 transmission line.  

Desert Sunlight Solar Farm Location

The Desert Sunlight solar farm is located on land administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). It is six miles north of the rural community of the desert center. It is adjacent to the I -10 freeway in eastern Riverside County, California Valley.

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Desert Sunlight Solar Farm Cost

The Desert Sunlight solar farm was built at a project cost of USD 1.5 billion. This loan was issued by the Department of Energy under the Financial Institution Partnership Program (FIPP) through two partial loan guarantees. 

The U.S. Department of Energy Loan Program Office (LPO) issued the loan guarantee for the project in September 2011. 

The loan amount was issued through DOE in loans provided by a syndicate of private institutional investors and commercial banks led by lead lenders Goldman Sachs Lending Partners LLC and Citigroup.

Project Timeline

The desert sunlight solar farm (also known as desert sun solar farm) was built in two phases: the first phase was built with a capacity of 250 MW, and the second phase was built with a capacity of 300 MW. 

Project Specifications

Land Allocation

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Contractors & Suppliers

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Investors

Desert Sunlight Solar Farm Ownership

The initial owners of the largest solar plant, California Desert Solar Farm, were NextEra Energy, with a 50% stake, and General Electric and Sumitomo of America, with a stake of 25% each in 2015. Later, in 2016, NRG Energy purchased the 25% stake from General Electric, paying USD 285 million.

In the same year, California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) agreed to purchase a 25% stake from  Sumitomo of America through its Gulf Pacific Power (GPP) partnership with Harbert Management Corporation. CalPERS has not disclosed the financial details of this transition.

Power Purchase Agreement of Desert Sunlight Solar Farm

The Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) of the Desert Sunlight solar farm is as follows: 

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Benefits

Reduced CO2 emissions: About 614,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions are prevented annually, approximately equal to removing more than 60,000 cars from the road.

Clean Power for Homes: About 1,060,000 megawatt-hours of clean energy are produced annually, which provides clean electricity to about 160,000 California homes.

Expansion in utility-scale photovoltaic market: The DOE's LPO worked with 14 financial institutions to finance the Desert Sunlight solar farm. This helped LPO attract new lenders into the utility-scale US solar photovoltaic market. Thus providing experience in project financing utility-scale photovoltaic projects.

Conclusion 

The Desert Sunlight Solar Farm is one of the largest sources of solar power in the US, located 225 miles from Palm Springs and 42.3 miles from Mojave Desert. Developed by First Solar at a project cost of USD 1.5 billion, it is owned by NextEra Energy, NRG Energy, and CalPERS. Solar power plants like Desert Sunlight Solar Farm, built on desert land, ensure more renewable energy development projects, thus reducing reliance on fossil fuels. Additionally, the Desert Sunlight project helped LPO attract several new lenders into utility-scale solar projects that expanded the US solar PV market.

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