In Kern County, near Bakersfield, internet giant Google Inc. is to invest $145m to transform an oil and gas field into a solar power plant.
The solar farm project, known as Regulus, is being built by SunEdison Inc. for Maryland-based TerraForm Power Inc., of which SunEdison is a majority owner. Regulus is Google’s 17th renewable energy project since 2010, of which five are in California.
The company spent $94m near Sacramento on four solar projects, and $103m towards an Imperial County solar farm. This project will provide 650 jobs for Kern County residents while generating 82 megawatts of energy; enough to power 10,000 homes.
According to Google, it expects to generate six billion kilowatt-hours of renewable energy annually from these projects, which it says is enough to supply all of Oregon, New York, and Wyoming’s elementary schools’ energy needs for a year.
The solar energy farm will come online later this year, at which time it will be in a position to sell power via 20-year purchase agreement with Southern California Edison. Financing for the project was supplied by Prudential Capital Group, Santander Bank, and Prudential Financial Inc.’s asset management business.
Brochure printers can be instrumental in informing the public about the advantages of solar power as well as what steps they can take to reduce their own electricity usage.
