Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Solar manufacturer First Solar buying developer NextLight Renewable Power

Solar manufacturer First Solar is buying solar developer NextLight Renewable Power in an estimated $285 million deal, the companies announced today.

The acquisition, which will be complete by the third quarter of 2010, is a continuation of First Solar's strategy of acquiring small but strong solar developers. In 2007, the company bought Turner Renewable Energy, followed by OptiSolar in 2009 and then Edison Mission Group in 2010.

"The combination of NextLight and First Solar brings best-in-class power development experience and discipline to the emerging utility-scale solar industry. We look forward to joining the First Solar organization and leveraging their expertise to deliver high-quality solar generation to our customers," said Frank De Rosa, NextLight chief executive officer.

NextLight has several solar photovoltaic projects planned throughout the Western United States, including the Silver State and Boulder City Solar projects in Clark County.

The draft Environmental Impact Statement on the Silver State project was released April 16, and the Bureau of Land Management is taking public comment on it for 45 days.

Public comment meetings for the project will be from  6 to 8 p.m on the following dates at these locations:

• May 11 at Primm Valley Resort and Casino, 31900 South Las Vegas Blvd., at I-15 South in Primm.

• May 12 at the M Resort, 12300 Las Vegas Blvd. South, in Henderson.

• May 13 at the Gold Strike Hotel and Casino, 1 Main Street, in Jean.

For more information or to read the draft environmental report, click here to go to the BLM website.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy