Meridian Energy gets into solar, acquiring Cleantech America

Wellington, New Zealand-based Meridian Energy said it has acquired San Francisco-based Cleantech America, which develops utility-scale photovoltaic solar farms.

New Zealand’s largest electricity generator said the move is expected to allow the company it grow its U.S. expertise and implement renewable energy projects in California, while adding solar for the first time to its portfolio. Financial details were undisclosed.

The state-owned enterprise, which already develops large-scale wind and hydroelectric projects, said it eventually plans to bring solar to the New Zealand market. Meridian is also currently building the world’s southernmost wind farm in Antarctica, on Ross Island.

Cleantech America is expected to continue to operate in the San Francisco Bay Area by its current name, but as a Meridian Energy company.

Meridian Energy said it plans to move forward with Cleantech America’s project, called CalRENEW-1, a 5-megawatt photovoltaic solar facility in Mendota, Calif.

It’s also the first utility-scale solar PV project to be approved by the California Public Utilities Commission under the state’s Renewables Portfolio Standard program, one of the most ambitious renewable energy standards in the country.

The program requires investor-owned utilities, energy service providers, and community choice aggregators operating in California to obtain 20 percent of their retail sales from renewable energy sources by 2010 (see Powering California green).

Electricity from the Mendota site is expected to be sold to Pacific Gas & Electric through a long-term power purchase agreement. In 2007, PG&E signed another contract for 7 MW of utility-scale solar projects with Cleantech America and GreenVolts (see GreenVolts lands agreement with PG&E).

This also isn’t Meridian Energy’s first interest in a California company. In 2008, Meridian contributed to a $2.9 million funding round in San Francisco's CarbonFlow, which is developing software to lower the cost and time it takes to create a carbon credit (see Growing market for carbon software).

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