Two 20-year PPAs secured for power from 128MW solar and 40MW storage hybrid project

EDF Renewables North America is to sell electricity from a 128MW solar and 40MW energy storage hybrid project in California to Silicon Valley Clean Energy and Monterey Bay Community Power under two 20-year power purchase agreements.

Silicon Valley Clean Energy will buy 55% of the output and Monterey Bay Community Power the remaining 45% from the Big Beau facility in Kern county.

The project is slated to achieve commercial operation by the end of 2021.

EDF Renewables director of renewables and storage product development Valerie Barros said: “The inclusion of storage provides the agencies with a 100% clean and partially dispatchable product, allowing them to mitigate the ‘duck curve’ risk and monetise price spikes.”

Monterey Bay Community Power chief executive Tom Habashi said: “We are excited to bring online a new California solar-plus-storage project with SVCE and EDF Renewables.

“Solar development has been a hallmark of California’s renewable energy boom and with the storage component, we can realise the full potential of solar generation.”

Silicon Valley Clean Energy chief executive Girish Balachandran said: “We are delivering on our commitment to our customers to provide reliable, renewable energy that will help us reach our decarbonisation goals.

“This long-term agreement with EDF Renewables for solar-plus-storage shows that as a CCA we have the financial stability to make investments in these kinds of innovative renewable projects.”