Suntech To Supply 23-MW Solar Farm Near US-Mexico Border

Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (STP, K3ND.SG) has signed a contract to supply the solar panels for a 23-megawatt solar farm planned for the California desert near the Mexico border.
The company was expected to announce Wednesday that it will provide about 100,000 solar panels using new manufacturing technology that boosts the amount of sunlight the panels can convert into electricity.
Privately held SunPeak Solar LLC is developing the project on 123 acres of land in Imperial County, Calif., owned by the Imperial Irrigation District, a municipal utility. The district will lease the property to the developer and buy the solar power generated from the project.
The North American Development Bank has agreed to provide $77.4 million in financing for the project.
The bank, backed by the U.S. and Mexican governments, provides loans for infrastructure projects on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.
The North American Development Bank may provide loans for additional renewable energy projects throughout the U.S.-Mexico border region in Arizona, California, Texas, and the Mexican states of Baja California, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas, said Juan Antonio Flores, a spokesman for the bank.
In particular, the bank is considering providing financing for two solar farms being developed in Arizona, and a wind farm proposed for Tamaulipas, with loans that together could total $262 million, Flores said.
China-based Suntech plans to use its Vd SuperPoly solar panels to supply the project.
California utilities are required, under state law, to use solar, wind or other renewable power generation for one-third of the electricity they sell by 2020.