EDF Renewables North America and the Clean Power Alliance announced this Friday the signing of a 15-years Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for a solar plus storage project in California. The project is the Desert Quartzite Solar, consisting of 300 megawatts of solar capacity; coupled with 600 megawatts-hour of battery energy storage.
Desert Quartzite Solar will deliver clean electricity to Clean Power Alliance’s customers. It will do so throughout Los Angeles and Ventura Counties in February 2024. CPA’s Board of Directors approved the long-term contract during its September meeting, according to the companies’ statement.
The project locates at on unincorporated land in Riverside County, California. It is administered by the Federal Bureau of Land Management; which designated the area as a Solar Energy Zone (SEZ) and Development Focus Area. Consequently, it is land set aside from the rest for utility-scale renewable energy development.
According to the statement, the project will count with horizontal single-axis tracking solar photovoltaic (PV) technology; and it will create more than 800 construction jobs.
A solar energy project coupled with battery energy storage such as the Desert Quartzite has the advantage of generating electricity during peak solar hours, store it, and later on the day dispatch it. Thereby creating a balance between electricity generation and demand. In fact, energy storage can further smooth electricity prices and provide grid stability in an environmentally friendly way.
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Specifically for the Desert Quartzite, the energy it will generate at full capacity will be equivalent to meet the consumption of more than 163,000 average California homes. In turn, such an amount would help to avoid around 669,000 metric tons of carbon emissions annually; which represents the greenhouse gas emissions from more than 145,000 passenger vehicles driven over the course of one year.
Clean Power Alliance Executive Director Ted Bardacke said about the project. “The clean reliable energy we will receive from the Desert Quartzite facility fits perfectly within our mission to improve the lives and environment of our customers and communities.”
He also remarked. “Our Board has identified solar-plus-storage as being key to our continued growth and a means to further improve reliability for our millions of customers. This project will also create many more green jobs here in Southern California.”
Finally, Sohinaz Sotoudeh, Senior Director, Origination & Power Marketing at EDF Renewables said. “EDF Renewables is pleased to partner with Clean Power Alliance to supply affordable in-state solar energy to their growing customer base through the Desert Quartzite Solar-plus-Storage Project.”
