EDF Renewables North America says it has finalised the construction and put into operation 214 MWp of solar parks in California’s Riverside County.
The 114-MWp Desert Harvest 1 plant has in place a 20-year power purchase agreement with community choice aggregator MCE, while the 100-MWp Desert Harvest 2 will sell its output and renewable attributes to the Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA) for 25 years. The smaller plant is coupled with a 35-MW, four-hour energy storage system.
Renewables Now reported that the two solar farms were installed on land that is administered by the Federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM), in an area designated as a solar energy zone. Equipped with horizontal single-axis trackers, they will be operated and maintained by EDF Renewables’ Asset Optimization team.
The solar parks’ combined output is expected to be enough to cover the electricity consumption of up to 77,000 average homes in California, the company said.
Last August, Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC, better known as Masdar, agreed to buy 50% stakes in 1.6 GW of clean energy assets that EDF Renewables owns in several US states, among which are the Desert Harvest 1 and 2 projects, the published report said.
