A brand new solar project is in the works, offering the potential of 10,000 new jobs across the country.
It is called Project Amp, and it will be spread across 28 states.
NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG), a solar company based in Princeton, New Jersey, is teaming up with warehouse giant Prologis (NYSE: PLD) to bring this project to life.
NRG will place 733 megawatts of solar panels on over 750 warehouse rooftops to provide solar energy to Prologis’ utilities.
The project will cost an estimated $2.6 billion, but the Department of Energy has already offered an 80% loan guarantee of $1.4 billion to help fund the venture.
The two companies are also teaming up with Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), which will act as financial and structuring advisor.
The remainder of funding will come from NRG, Prologis, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Bank of America has a $20 billion environmental business initiative, according to Power-Gen Worldwide, and this will go toward their goal of aiding energy efficiency.
The project will begin in Southern California no later than September 30th, where power from the first 15MW installed will be sold to Edison International (NYSE: EIX).
The projected completion date is the end of 2015, when all of the installations should be completed.
The amount of power generated by this project in its entirety would have the ability to power around 88,000 homes.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced that this is a huge step in favor of the SunShot initiative, an effort by the DOE to make renewable solar energy competitive with other energy forms.
It would do a lot for solar, and we could see this SunShot initiative come to fruition, perhaps sooner than we thought.
Keep an eye on the solar industry – it’s definitely heating up.
That’s all for now,
Brianna
