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Tech stocks - Monday, November 23, 2009

First Solar Sells Largest Photovoltaic Power Plant In California

In a move that will generate more cash for the company, First Solar
(FSLR:NASDAQ) announced today the sale of their 21MW photovoltaic
solar project in Blythe, California to NRG Energy (NRG:NYSE). Terms of
the deal were disclosed.

Located about 200 miles east of Los Angeles, the Blythe Solar Project
will be NRG Energy’s first working solar energy generation facility
when the plant goes online later this year. The electricity will be
sold to Southern California Edison, a division of Edison International
(EIX:NYSE). At peak capacity, the largest photovoltaic power plant in
California will provide enough electricity to meet the needs of 17,000
homes.

The timing of the sale is helpful to First Solar as the company
reported weaker sequential revenues in Q3 2009 mainly due to the
Sarnia project that was only 65 percent complete. Competitors in the
solar industry including Suntech Power (STP:NYSE), Trina Solar
(TSL:NYSE) and LDK Solar (LDK:NYSE) have all reported sequential
growth in Q3 2009. First Solar could still realize more revenue from
this sale as they have agreed to provide operations and maintenance
services at Blythe under a long-term contract with NRG.

For NRG Energy, this is their second renewable energy acquisition this
month. Towards the beginning of the month NRG Energy acquired
Bluewater Wind, one of the nation’s leading offshore wind development
businesses. While the Bluewater Wind was an all cash deal, the exact
amount was not disclosed.