SEMPRA GENERATION PLANT NAMED “SOLAR PROJECT OF THE YEAR” BY RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD

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March 9, 2011 (San Diego) – San Diego-based Sempra Generation’s Copper Mountain Solar project, currently the largest photovoltaic solar plant in the U.S., has been awarded “Solar Project of the Year” by Renewable Energy World as part of the 2011 Excellence in Renewable Energy Awards.

The award was announced at the Renewable Energy World Conference and Expo currently underway in Tampa, Fla. Copper Mountain Solar was selected out of hundreds of nominations in the category.

The 48-megawatt (MW) solar installation, located in Boulder City, Nev., about 40 miles southeast of Las Vegas, was completed in late 2010 and now generates enough renewable electricity to power about 14,000 average homes.

“We are honored to be recognized for our work to develop Copper Mountain Solar, especially considering the number of innovative solar projects completed in the past year,” said Jeffrey W. Martin, president and chief executive officer for Sempra Generation. “Given
the 330 days of intense sunshine each year and the network of transmission lines that provide access to markets throughout the West, there are few places better suited for utility-scale solar than southern Nevada. We look forward to expanding the Copper Mountain Solar complex by hundreds of megawatts in the coming years to meet the growing demand for clean, renewable energy.”

About 350 construction workers at peak installed nearly 775,000 thin-film photovoltaic solar panels at the 380-acre desert site.

The power from Copper Mountain Solar and Sempra Generation’s adjacent 10-MW El Dorado Solar plant has been sold to Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) under separate 20-year contracts.

Sempra Generation is focused on utility-scale solar development in California, Nevada and Arizona. The company’s development pipeline now exceeds 1,000 MW and includes large land positions in each state that support multi-phase solar projects. In mid-2011, the company expects to break ground on the first 150-MW phase of its Mesquite Solar complex, which is a 700-MW photovoltaic development opportunity located west of Phoenix.

The Renewable Energy World Network is one of the world’s largest distributors of news and information about the alternative energy industry.
 


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