First Solar, Inc. and K Road Power Holdings LLC announced on September 26th that First Solar has acquired from K Road the 250 megawatt (MW)AC photovoltaic Moapa Solar Project in Nevada.
The Moapa Solar Project, located on the Moapa River Indian Reservation in Clark County, northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, is the first large-scale solar project approved to be built on tribal land in North America. The project is in an advanced stage of development, and has in place a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP).
Construction of the project, situated within a 2,000-acre segment of the Moapa Band of Paiutes tribal land, could start as soon as the fourth quarter of 2013, and be completed by the end of 2015. The project is expected to create up to 400 jobs during peak of construction, and approximately 10 permanent jobs when the power plant is in operation. First Solar will design and build the project, using its Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) thin film solar modules.
In its first year of operation, the Moapa Solar Project will generate enough clean energy to power approximately 100,000 average homes. The project will displace more than 178,000 metric tons of CO2, the equivalent of taking more than 34,000 cars off the road, and will displace more than 142,000 metric tons of water consumption annually. The project will advance tribal economic competitiveness and job creation, serve as an example of tribal energy self-sufficiency and sustainability, and encourage further renewable energy projects on tribal land.