N.J. firm pays $21 million for Lake County solar project

PSEG Solar Source announced Wednesday it has acquired a 10.5 megawatt-dc solar energy facility from Obsidian Renewables for an investment of $21 million. The facility, to be called the PSEG Lake County Solar Energy Center, is located about 140 miles southeast of Bend.

Here’s the rest of their news release:

The PSEG Lake County Solar Energy Center has a 20-year power purchase agreement with PacificCorp, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy. It sits on approximately 65 acres under a 35-year lease with a private landowner.

“We are pleased to partner with Obsidian Renewables and Swinerton Builders on this project which expands our solar footprint to include Oregon where we will deliver enough clean, reliable energy to power about 2,000 Oregon homes,” said Diana Drysdale, president of PSEG Solar Source. “This acquisition is another example of PSEG’s Solar Source’s commitment to growing our renewable energy business.”

Swinerton Builders is the engineering, procurement and construction contractor and will operate the project for PSEG Solar Source upon completion. Construction is underway and commercial operations are expected to commence later this year. The facility will use approximately 32,000 SolarWorld mono-crystalline panels with SMA inverters.

“This has been a wonderful project to develop,” said Obsidian’s CEO David Brown. “The support we have had from Lake County, from the State of Oregon, and from labor, suppliers and consultants has been remarkable. We are very proud to be associated with Swinerton and PSEG on this project.”

“We are pleased with the strong support received from the local communities and businesses, as well as the high level of craftsmanship provided by the local workforce,” said George Hershman, Swinerton’s senior vice president and general manager. “We look forward to contributing to Oregon’s continued growth in renewable energy.”

This is PSEG Solar Source’s 19th utility-scale project in 13 states. The company currently has 215 MW-dc in operation with another 128 MW-dc in construction and on schedule to be operational by the end of the year.

About PSEG Solar Source:

PSEG Solar Source is a subsidiary of PSEG Power, a merchant power generation company which is part of the Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) family of companies. PSEG (NYSE:PEG) is a publicly traded diversified energy company with annual revenues of $10.4 billion. Its other main subsidiaries are Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G), a regulated New Jersey gas and electric utility, and PSEG Long Island, which operates the transmission and distribution assets of the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA).