67 MW Lotus Solar Farm in Madera County commences operation
8minute Solar Energy has announced that the 67 megawatt (MWdc) Lotus Solar Farm in Madera County, California is now fully operating. The Lotus Solar Farm produces energy for well over 12,000 Southern California homes, delivered through a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Southern California Edison, and will reduce carbon emissions by more than 48,000 metric tons each year.
The 375-acre project, acquired by AllianzGI in 2019, was strategically sited on low-productivity former grazing land and created 300 peak union jobs in Madera County during construction. 8minute acquired the land and conducted permitting for the Lotus Solar Farm, obtained the interconnection agreement, secured the PPA, and managed construction through to commercial operations.
8minute and AllianzGI worked together to secure tax equity investment from Tenaska.
Signal Energy provided the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) services for Lotus, while key suppliers included Nextracker with its NX Horizon™ smart solar tracker and TMEIC with 14 of their Ninja 4200 central inverters.
