EDF Renewables North America (EDFR) and Power Sustainable Energy Infrastructure (PSEI) have achieved commercial operation at a 300MW solar-storage project in California.
The Desert Quartzite solar plus storage project (image of another EDF solar plant in California), which includes a 150MW/four-hour battery energy storage system (BESS) is delivered to Clean Power Alliance (CPA), under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA).
Desert Quartzite, located on federal lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Riverside county, California, is designed to store electricity during peak hours for solar generation in a series of batteries.
This stored energy is then dispatched later in the day or night to help manage capacity demand, creating a balance between electricity generation and demand.
“EDF Renewables recognizes the growing importance of battery energy storage systems as a complementary market to our core generation business.
“These systems provide reliable, affordable, and clean energy even in the absence of sunlight,” said Devon Muto, Vice President, West Development at EDF Renewables.
“During the peak construction phase of the project, we were able to create 450 jobs, and we are particularly proud of our safety practices which resulted in zero recordable incidents during the two-year construction phase of the project.”
“We are thrilled to be expanding our presence in the California utility-scale market,” said Pierre-Olivier Perras, Managing Partner at PSEI. “This project is a testament to the strong market fundamentals supporting renewables and battery storage in North America.”
The energy storage system not only helps to smooth electricity prices but also provides grid stability.