Topaz Solar Farms LLC - San Luis Obispo County - CAISO
Topaz Solar Farm is a 550 MW AC project on California's Carrizo Plain, built from roughly 8.5 million First Solar thin-film modules across 4,700 acres. It has delivered power to PG&E under a 25-year agreement since 2014, with a 230 kV connection to the Morro Bay-Midway line and site planning that preserves wildlife corridors and vernal-pool habitat.
Answers use this researched asset profile with live CAISO data. Ask about ownership, equipment, project history, or current grid context.
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Canonical EIA plant baseline.
plant-57695
Similar plants ranked by technology, capacity, and distance.
Operating generator records and technology attributes reported through EIA-860.
| Generator | Capacity | Technology | Operation | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TPZ1 | 129.8 MW 129.8 MW summer | Solar Photovoltaic Solar · PV | Apr 2013 | Operating |
| TPZ2 | 151.2 MW 151.2 MW summer | Solar Photovoltaic Solar · PV | Jun 2013 | Operating |
| TPZ3 | 102.1 MW 102.1 MW summer | Solar Photovoltaic Solar · PV | Jan 2014 | Operating |
| TPZ4 | 90.3 MW 90.3 MW summer |
Monthly EIA generation history and recent market-resource behavior where linked telemetry is available.
Deterministic links to ERCOT market resources, price records, outage disclosures, queue records, and nearby infrastructure. Candidate joins remain labeled until corroborated.
Source-backed project transactions, agreements, land records, permits, and environmental disclosures. Portfolio and adjacent-project facts remain explicitly scoped.
Parties, market resources, and identifiers tied to this asset, with owner, operator, developer, EPC, compliance provider, and interconnecting entity roles kept separate.
Project milestones and public references behind the asset profile.
The California Public Utilities Commission approved the first amendment to the Topaz Solar Farms LLC and PG&E power purchase agreement, effective February 25, 2010, for 550 MW of photovoltaic capacity.
| Nov 2014 |
| Operating |
| TPZ5 | 112.5 MW 112.5 MW summer | Solar Photovoltaic Solar · PV | Oct 2014 | Operating |
Monthly generation is reported through EIA-923. Capacity factor uses the current EIA nameplate capacity and is shown only for complete calendar years.
Portfolio membership follows the latest EIA-860 reporting entity. It does not imply ultimate ownership.
Construction of the Topaz project commenced under a fixed-price, date-certain, turnkey engineering, procurement, and construction contract with a First Solar subsidiary.
MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company announced definitive agreements to acquire the 550 MW Topaz Solar Farm from First Solar, Inc. First Solar agreed to construct, operate, and maintain the project. The project was valued at more than $2 billion.
First phase of 45 MW placed in service in 2012 as part of the phased 22-block construction program.
MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, through a wholly owned subsidiary, completed the acquisition of Topaz Solar Farms LLC and the 550 MW solar project from a First Solar subsidiary.
Topaz Solar Farms issued $850 million of 5.75% Series A Senior Secured Notes to fund development, construction, and financing costs. The notes amortize beginning September 2015 and mature in September 2039.
Second phase of 236 MW placed in service in 2013.
EIA-860 lists generator TPZ1 with this operating date.
EIA-860 lists generator TPZ2 with this operating date.
Third phase of 252 MW placed in service in 2014.
EIA-860 lists generator TPZ3 with this operating date.
EIA-860 lists generator TPZ5 with this operating date.
EIA-860 lists generator TPZ4 with this operating date.
Final phase of 53 MW placed in service in 2015; final completion achieved in February 2015.
Answered from the published record above. Questions whose inputs this profile does not carry are omitted rather than estimated.
Topaz Solar Farm has a reported capacity of 585.9 MW. Source: EIA Form 860M.
Topaz Solar Farm is a Solar Photovoltaic facility in San Luis Obispo County, CA, participating in the CAISO market.
Topaz Solar Farm is in San Luis Obispo County, CA, inside the CAISO balancing area.
Topaz Solar Farm is operated by Topaz Solar Farms LLC according to the EIA generator inventory. Reporting membership does not by itself establish ultimate ownership.
Topaz Solar Farm reported 1,022.8 GWh over the twelve months to 2026-04. Figures are net generation as filed to EIA-923.
By capacity, Topaz Solar Farm ranks #4 of 7,234 operating plants of the same technology nationally. It ranks #1 of 939 in CA.
Plants within 25 km, nearest first, regardless of technology. Proximity is straight-line distance between mapped plant coordinates; it does not by itself establish a shared point of interconnection.