trending Market Intelligence /marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/tXOKuAFPP8bNdxAySqbyjw2 content esgSubNav
In This List

Calif. aggregators continue push on solar-plus-storage projects

Podcast

Next in Tech | Episode 49: Carbon reduction in cloud

Blog

Using ESG Analysis to Support a Sustainable Future

Research

US utility commissioners: Who they are and how they impact regulation

Blog

Q&A: Datacenters: Energy Hogs or Sustainability Helpers?


Calif. aggregators continue push on solar-plus-storage projects

California's local government-run community choice aggregators, which have largely taken over the majority of the state's renewable energy procurement in recent years, are increasingly turning to battery-backed solar photovoltaic projects.

The latest example came Sept. 18, when the board of East Bay Community Energy, a community choice aggregator, or CCA, formed by Alameda County and 11 of its cities, approved two new solar-plus-storage contracts.

Under a 20-year power purchase agreement with Raceway Solar 1 LLC, an affiliate of Spower Corp., East Bay Community Energy will purchase the output from a 125-MW solar farm coupled with 80 MW/160 MWh of energy storage in Kern and Los Angeles counties, according to the resolution approved at the board meeting. The project is scheduled to start operations in December 2022.

Spower is a joint venture of power plant operator AES Corp. and Alberta Investment Management Corp., one of Canada's largest fund managers.

East Bay Community Energy also signed a 15-year agreement with a project development subsidiary of Terra-Gen LLC for the output from a 100-MW solar project at Edwards Air Force Base in Kern County. The contract includes "virtual storage" from a battery system to be controlled by Terra-Gen, the size of which has not yet been determined.

Storage gives the CCA "price protection related to negative pricing," when suppliers must pay customers to take power off their systems, a frequent occurrence in California during times of midday solar oversupply, according to a contract overview distributed with the resolution. The benefits of the batteries will be shared between the CCA and the California ISO.

Solar farms with batteries are considered key assets as California decarbonizes its grid in line with a state law targeting 60% renewable energy by 2030 and 100% carbon-free power by 2045.

The agreements follow East Bay Community Energy's first solar-plus-storage contract, approved in June, with EDP Renewables North America LLC for 100 MW of solar and 30 MW of storage from the Sonrisa Solar Park, which is also underpinned by a separate contract with another CCA, San Jose Clean Energy.

Two other CCAs in Northern California, Monterey Bay Community Power and Silicon Valley Clean Energy, teamed up to purchase power from two utility-scale solar-plus-storage facilities under development in Kern and Kings counties, at competitive prices not to exceed $40/MWh.

Many of California's 19 operating CCAs are exploring additional battery-backed solar projects.

Clean Power Alliance, a CCA that purchases power for roughly three million residents in Ventura and Los Angeles counties, plans to consider approval of a 15-year power purchase agreement with an undisclosed developer for 123 MW of solar and 31 MW of storage at a plant in San Bernardino County, the CCA revealed in a draft agenda for its Oct. 3 meeting.

Marin County-based MCE Clean Energy, the state's first CCA, plans to launch a request for proposals in 2020 for standalone storage and renewable energy paired with batteries, according to a Sept. 18 presentation.