Mortenson and Terra-Gen to work on “world’s largest standalone solar and energy storage project”

Terra-Gen, a renewable energy developer and operator, says it has reached an agreement with Mortenson to proceed on the Edwards & Sanborn solar and energy storage project in Kern County.

The project consists of 1,118 megawatts of solar and 2,165 megawatt-hours of energy storage. It is currently the largest single solar and battery energy storage project to reach this milestone, the company says in a Dec. 10 statement.

“Selecting the right partner to execute a project of this scale coupled with cutting edge battery experience was paramount for Terra-Gen, and Mortenson was a natural fit,” said Brian Gorda, Terra-Gen’s vice-president of engineering. “Terra-Gen is excited to push the industry to new heights and build a plant that provides energy for all hours of demand.”

The Edwards & Sanborn project is near several operating wind and solar projects in the Bakersfield area. Mortenson is the full Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contractor on both the solar and energy storage scopes.

Site construction will commence in the first quarter of 2021 with expected completion near the end of 2022, the news release says.

Solar production on the site will utilize more than 2.5 million modules to produce enough energy to power 260,000 homes in California and energy storage will utilize more than 110,000 lithium-ion battery modules.

The project is Mortenson’s 78^th solar project and 11^th energy storage project.

“The Edwards & Sanborn solar and energy storage project is industry-changing and during this challenging 2020 will redefine the impact these systems will have on our clean energy future,” said Trent Mostaert, Mortenson’s vice-president and general manager of Solar. “We are proud to combine our solar and energy storage design and construction expertise with Terra-Gen’s development capabilities to deliver a world-class energy facility.”

At peak construction, more than 700 people will be employed on-site.