MidAmerican Energy to Add 500 Megawatts of Solar Power in California by End of 2014

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Moving into 2012, solar energy continues to play an important role in the growth of the renewable energy market. California has at least 36 projects scheduled to take place this year, with one of the largest to be headed by MidAmerican Energy Company (Des Moines, Iowa), a subsidiary of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company.

The 36 projects represent nearly 1,800 megawatts (MW) of renewable solar energy; however, with the different hurdles that most of these projects have to go through, the numbers could change before the end of 2012.

The estimated $2 billion Topaz Solar Farm is slated to be one of the largest photovoltaic solar projects constructed in California. The project is on target to generate 500 MW of renewable energy by the end of 2014. MidAmerican Energy purchased the project in December from First Solar Incorporated (NASDAQ:FSLR) (Tempe, Arizona), which is the turnkey contractor for the new project.

First Solar will build, operate and maintain the facility. The Topaz project will be constructed in five phases. The first two are under construction and are slated to be completed by the end of 2013, totaling nearly 200 MW. Two other phases of the project are scheduled to begin construction this year.

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