EDF Renewables has signed a 15-year power purchase agreement with Los Angeles-area electricity provider Clean Power Alliance for the Desert Quartzite Solar+Storage project.
The Desert Quartzite Solar+Storage project consists of a 300-megawatt solar farm and a 600 MWh battery energy storage system. The agreement will provide enough electricity to power more than 163,000 homes and avoid 669,000 metric tons of carbon emissions annually.
The project is expected to begin delivering clean electricity in Feb. 2024. The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to mandate 100% clean energy by 2035.
“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,” said Clean Power Alliance Executive Director Ted Bardacke. “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.”
Clean Power Alliance provides electricity to 3 million customers across Los Angeles and Ventura Counties and is the largest provider of 100% renewable energy to customers in the U.S.
The Desert Quartzite Solar+Storage Project is located on unincorporated land in Riverside County, administered by the Bureau of Land Management in the Solar Energy Zone. The project will utilize horizontal single-axis tracking solar photovoltaic (PV) technology.
“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,” said Sohinaz Sotoudeh, Senior Director, Origination & Power Marketing at EDF Renewables. “It is particularly satisfying to work with CPA, whose mission to empower communities with a choice for renewable power aligns with EDF Renewables’ ambition to help build a sustainable energy future. We are committed to helping CPA and other CCAs achieve their clean energy future through projects that also improve grid resiliency.”
The Biden administration has started the process of revising public land regulations for renewable energy projects, a move that advocates say could cut costs for wind and solar project developers.
The Bureau of Land Management is soliciting public input on proposed rulemaking related to renewable energy permitting and linear rights-of-way on public lands.
Approved renewable energy projects (wind, solar, and geothermal) on public lands in the U.S., according to the Wilderness Society.BLM has approved more than 11,000 megawatts of wind, solar, and geothermal projects, according to the Wilderness Society. The wind and solar projects alone, once completed, could power approximately 4 million homes.