BayWa RE has entered into a power purchase agreement (PPA) with San Diego Community Power (SDCP) for electricity generated by a 90MW solar plus 70MW storage plant in California.
The 20-year PPA is for output from the Jacumba Valley Ranch (JVR) Energy Park being developed by BayWa RE near Jacumba Hot Springs in San Diego County.
Construction of the project is set to begin in early 2022 and is expected to create approximately 350 construction jobs, using a project labour agreement with local unions.
JVR Energy Park is expected to reach full operational status in the first quarter of 2023.
Once interconnected to the San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) transmission grid, the power plant will generate enough electricity to power at least 52,000 SDCP customer households annually.
SDCP was formed in 2019 and launched electricity supply services in March 2021 for municipal customers in the five member cities of Chula Vista, Encinitas, Imperial Beach, La Mesa and San Diego.
It began serving commercial and industrial customers in June 2021 and will launch its residential phase in the first quarter of 2022.
The programme provides local control and consumer choice regarding energy decisions on a large scale for the first time in the region’s history.
“The renewable energy produced and stored at the JVR Energy Park will be an important foundational block of SDCP’s planned power supply portfolio,” said Joe Mosca, chair of the SDCP board and Encinitas city councilmember.
“Working with an experienced renewables developer such as BayWa RE gives us confidence that we will meet our clean energy and climate goals.”
The Jacumba site, which consists of flat, formerly agricultural land located adjacent to SDG&E transmission infrastructure, makes it ideal to be able to provide SDCP’s customers with clean and reliable energy.
The Jacumba agreement represents SDCP’s first solar and storage PPA in San Diego County.
As part of the development plan, the project has committed to funding improvements to the local community park as well as the preservation of 435 acres of native habitat.