PSE&G's renewables arm buys 66.6 MW of solar for $110M

Dive Brief:

PSEG Solar Source, the utility-scale solar developer for PSEG Power Ventures, acquired two large scale solar facilities totaling 66.6 MW from solar developer juwi for an estimated $110 million, PV Tech reports.
The 3.9 MW Lawrence Livermore Solar Energy Center in California and the 62.7 MW Pavant II Solar Energy Center in Utah will bring PSEG Solar Source’s installed solar capacity to 214.6 MW. Pavant II is the biggest single installation in PSEG’s portfolio of 14 projects.
PSEG Power Ventures is an unregulated subsidiary of Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) and works outside the territory covered by Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G), the company’s regulated utility. It represents one of the increasing number of efforts by U.S. utilities to grow renewables businesses in competitive markets.

Dive Insight:

PSE&G's venture into renewables appears to be gaining traction after the latest purchases by its unregulated renewables arm PSEG Solar Source, now spanning 10 states.

PSEG's new California solar project is being built by juwi and set to come online in the first quarter of 2016. The Western Area Power Authority (WAPA) holds a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) for its output. The Utah solar project is in development, and expected to be online by the end of 2016. PacifiCorp holds a 20-year PPA for its output.

juwi Americas, a subsidiary of international wind and solar developer juwi Group, is the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the new PSEG projects and will operate them for PSEG Solar Source.

Following last month's extensions of solar’s federal investment tax credit and wind’s production tax credit, analysts predict the tax credits will drive 25 GW of additional solar installed capacity and 19 GW of additional wind by 2020.