nrglargestsolarfarmincalifornia.jpg [3]

Located just outside the City of Avenal, California's largest photovoltaic (PV) solar farm is now operational.

NRG Solar, a subsidiary of NRG Energy Inc [4]. (NYSE: NRG [5]), and partner Eurus Energy [6], the U.S. subsidiary of Tokyo-based Eurus Energy Holdings [7], have announced the Avenal Solar Generating Facility is now feeding electricity to California's power grid.

Comprised of thin film solar panels provided by Sharp Electronics [8], the 45 MW solar facility is made up of three separate solar farms. Construction, which began in the fall of 2010, is complete on the 20 MW Sun City farm and the 19 MW Sand Drag, the final solar farm, the 6 MW Avenal Park, will be online soon. Combined, the entire facility spans 500-acres in Kings County, California.

The energy generated at the new solar facility will be sold to Pacific Gas and Electric Company [9] (PG&E) under a 20-year power purchase agreement.

This is the second time in two years that NRG has been able to claim the largest solar PV installation in California. The company continues to grow its solar generation portfolio at a rapid rate.

In January 2011, NRG conditionally agreed to acquire [10] the 290 MW Aqua Caliente Solar project [11] in Arizona from First Solar Inc. [12] (Nasdaq: FSLR [13]) which, when operational, is expected to be the largest PV installation in the world.

“Only two years ago, NRG began its expansion into solar power by bringing online the largest photovoltaic plant in California at that time—today, we repeat that accomplishment by commencing operations at Avenal,” said Tom Doyle, President of NRG’s Solar and West Region.

He added, “We are excited to celebrate the success of our partnership with Eurus as we advance the development of solar power in California to help meet the state’s ambitious renewable energy goals.”

Image Credit: Don Fulano [14] via Flickr