First Solar-developed plant online in Nevada

5/8/2012

LAS VEGAS — U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar activated a 50-megawatt power plant Monday that was developed by First Solar Inc. and is the first on U.S. public land.

The Silver State North project in Nevada's Ivanpah Valley, south of Las Vegas, is owned by Enbridge Inc., Canada's largest oil-pipeline company, and generates enough electricity for about 9,000 homes, according to a statement.

First Solar was begun in Toledo but moved its headquarters to Tempe, Ariz. Its only U.S. manufacturing plant is in Perrysburg Township.