Wells Fargo Invests in Nevada Solar One

Wells Fargo (WFC) said this morning that it has invested in Nevada Solar One, a 64-megawatt solar plant southeast of Las Vegas. A Wells Fargo spokesperson declined to disclose the size of the investment. JPMorgan Capital led the equity investors, which also included an affiliate of Northern Trust (NTRS); Spain’s Banco Santander and BBVA and Portugal’s CAIXA were responsible for the debt financing.

Nevada Solar One is a $266 million, 400-acre solar project with more than 182,000 panels that was developed by Acciona Energy. The plant uses concentrated solar technology, which utilizes parabolic trough-shaped mirrored panels to concentrate sun onto fluid-filled tubes, powering an electricity-generating steam turbine. The electricity from Nevada Solar will be bought by Nevada Power Co. and Sierra Pacific Power Co. (SRP) through purchase-power agreements.