Soitec Announces Major U.S. CPV Solar Power Project
BERNIN, France and SAN DIEGO
o Tenaska Solar Ventures Selects Soitec's Concentrix CPV Solar Power Technology To Produce 150 Megawatts of Clean Energy For San Diego Gas & Electric
o Soitec Will Build a New 200MW CPV Manufacturing Facility in the San Diego Region.
Soitec (Euronext Paris), a world-leading supplier of advanced solutions
for the electronics and energy industries, today announced that its
Concentrix concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) technology has been selected by
Tenaska Solar Ventures to produce 150 megawatts (MW) of clean energy for San
Diego Gas & Electric. The new CPV solar power plant, named Imperial Solar
Energy Center (ISEC) West, will be constructed on a 1057-acre site in
Southern California's western Imperial County, and is expected to be
completed in 2015. To support the project, Soitec will build a new factory in
the San Diego region to manufacture its proprietary CPV modules. With an
annual production capacity of 200 MW, the new CPV manufacturing facility will
supply CPV modules not only to ISEC West, but to other utility-scale solar
power projects throughout the desert southwest of the U.S.
San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) signed a 25-year
power-purchase agreement with a subsidiary of CSOLAR Development, LLC, a
renewable energy company managed by Tenaska Solar Ventures that will develop
and operate the ISEC West solar power plant. The ground-mounted concentrated
photovoltaic power plant will have a capacity of 150 MW of solar generated
electricity. The ISEC West project will produce enough electricity to meet
the annual electricity needs of approximately 55,000 California homes.
Concentrated photovoltaic technology converts sunlight directly into "clean"
electricity via concentrator optics and high efficiency solar cells that
neither produce noise nor emit greenhouse gases. Additionally, CPV technology
requires no water for ongoing operations, a crucial consideration for the
water-constrained Imperial Valley. Finally, the ISEC West project represents
a significant economic investment in Imperial County, one that will create
hundreds of jobs in the area.
"The start of construction of the Sunrise Powerlink has
triggered a wave of proposed new utility-scale solar and wind projects in the
Imperial Valley region," said James Avery, SDG&E's senior vice president of
power supply. "What is unique about this contract is that not only will the
Imperial Valley benefit from the jobs created to construct the solar plant,
San Diego will benefit from the approximately 450 new jobs that will be
created at the new manufacturing facility that will be located here in the
region. SDG&E's voluntary commitment to obtain 33 percent of its power from
renewable sources by 2020 is creating new jobs in both the Imperial Valley
and here in San Diego, and we are proud of this accomplishment."
Concentrix CPV solar power systems are more efficient and
perform better than conventional solar systems, particularly at locations
with extremely hot ambient temperatures and dry weather conditions. Because
of the very low temperature coefficient of its multijunction solar cells, a
CPV system's performance is much less affected by temperature than any other
photovoltaic technology. Additionally, a CPV system's 2-axis tracker produces
a high and constant power production output throughout daylight hours.
According to Dave Fiorelli, President of Tenaska's Development Group, "The
ISEC West solar power plant will demonstrate Concentrix CPV scalability, and
commercial viability of this innovative technology for utility scale
deployment. We are excited to work with Soitec and SDG&E to bring clean
energy to the homes and businesses of Southern California."
"Soitec is extremely pleased that Tenaska Solar Ventures chose
our Concentrix CPV technology for the ISEC West solar power plant," adds
Andre-Jacques Auberton-Herve, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Soitec. "Our
CPV systems are perfectly suited for the very high solar irradiance prevalent
in the Imperial Valley. As a CPV leader, we are very committed to the U.S.
market and look forward to increasing our presence in the San Diego community
by contributing to the emerging renewable energy ecosystem in the region."
The ISEC West project has applied for a U.S. Department of
Energy loan guarantee. Upon receipt of the guarantee and closing of its
agreement with Tenaska, Soitec will implement capacity investments to
construct its San Diego area factory and pursue options for related
financing. The factory location is anticipated to be announced this summer,
with completion expected within 18 months of construction start. Soitec's
delivery of the CPV systems to the ISEC West solar power plant will begin in
early 2013 and finish in 2015. At full capacity, Soitec's San Diego
operations will generate up to 450 jobs in the local area.
About Soitec
Soitec (Euronext Paris), an international manufacturing corporation
produces very-high-performance materials for the semiconductor industry.
Soitec's market-leading products and technologies (Smart Cut(TM), Smart
Stacking(TM), and Concentrix(TM)) enhance the performance and energy
efficiency of microelectronics-driven IT, telecommunications, automotive
electronics, lighting products and solar power plants for large scale
utilities. Soitec products include substrates for micro and nanoelectonics
-most notably SOI (Silicon-on-Insulator) and concentrator photovoltaic CPV
systems. Soitec has manufacturing plants and R&D centers in France,
Singapore, Germany, and the United States.
For more information, visit: www.soitec.com.
About SDG&E
SDG&E is a regulated public utility that provides safe and reliable
energy service to 3.4 million consumers through 1.4 million electric meters
and more than 845,000 natural gas meters in San Diego and southern Orange
counties. The utility's area spans 4,100 square miles. SDG&E is committed to
creating ways to help its customers save energy and money every day. SDG&E is
a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), a Fortune 500 energy services
holding company based in San Diego.
About Tenaska Solar Ventures
Tenaska Solar Ventures, which manages CSOLAR Development, LLC, a
renewable energy company, is dedicated to developing, owning and operating
solar projects in North America. Tenaska Solar Ventures is managed by
Tenaska, an independent energy company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska that
develops, constructs, owns, and operates non-utility generation and
cogeneration plants. The company also markets natural gas, biofuels and
electric power, and provides risk management services in addition to being
involved in asset acquisition, fuel supply, natural gas exploration,
production and transportation systems, and electric transmission development.
Tenaska has developed approximately 9,000 megawatts (MW) of electric
generating capacity across the United States. Tenaska's affiliates operate
and manage eight power plants in six states totaling more than 6,700 MW of
generating capacity owned in partnership with other companies. Tenaska
Capital Management, an affiliate, is the manager of private equity funds with
approximately $4.4 billion in assets, including nine power plants (with
approximately 5,400 MW of capacity) and multiple natural gas midstream
assets, including gas storage, gathering, and processing facilities. Tenaska
is repeatedly listed in benchmarking studies by the Natural Resources Defense
Council as having among the best fleet-wide records in the United States for
controlling emissions. For more information about Tenaska, visit
http://www.tenaska.com.
Source: Soitec
International Media Contact: Camille Darnaud-Dufour, +33(0)6-79-49-51-43, camille.darnaud-dufour@soitec.fr; French Media Contact: Marie-Caroline Saro, H&B Communication, +33(0)1-58-18-32-44, mc.saro@hbcommunication.fr
