Announce Plans for Solar Energy Plant Near Mendota

Cleantech America, LLC, announced last week that plans for CalRENEW-1, the largest solar energy facility in California and third largest in the nation, have been finalized, with the facility to be located near Mendota in Fresno County and completion slated for 2009.

Bill Barnes, Cleantech America CEO, acknowledged the RJI with helping locate the project in Fresno County: "The Fresno Regional Jobs Initiative has been a critical ingredient to our progress towards what will be California’s largest photovoltaic solar power plant. The RJI is extremely well connected in both the public and private spheres and knows what it takes to make projects happen in the real world. We often hear that California has a less than business-friendly climate; but the RJI makes the San Joaquin Valley a fertile ground for growing new businesses, technologies and jobs."

CalRENEW-1 will serve as a peak solar facility providing up to five megawatts of clean energy to PG&E customers throughout northern and central California. The facility not only will contribute to improving the San Joaquin Valley’s air quality and increasing its energy self-sufficiency, it also will add to job creation in the region.

"Providing zero-emission green energy in the San Joaquin Valley, an area long suffering from some of the worst air quality and highest levels of associated health problems, makes good social, economic and environmental sense," Barnes said. "This is the true potential of green photovoltaic solar energy.".

Cleantech America has entered into a long-term power purchase agreement with PG&E. The facility will be designed, built and operated by Cleantech America’s enterprise partners, the California Construction Authority (CCA), a California Joint Powers Authority. CCA has six megawatts of photovoltaic solar in operation and another two megawatts in development, including the 800 kilowatt installation at the Big Fresno Fair.