Southern California Solar Farms
Recurrent Energy has signed Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with Southern California Edison (SCE) for multiple ground-mount solar projects totaling 80 MW. Recurrent Energy will build, own, and operate the solar power systems, which will be located in Kern County and San Bernardino County.
SCE is the largest electric utility in California, serving a population of more than 13 million via 4.8 million customer accounts in Central, Coastal and Southern California. The utility will buy 100 percent of the power from the three Recurrent Energy projects.
SCE selected Recurrent Energy based on a variety of criteria, each demonstrating the high viability of the projects:
Sizing/Proximity to Load — Recurrent Energy's primary business philosophy is to develop distributed-scale utility photovoltaic projects close to where electricity is needed. By focusing on ~20 MW distributed-scale projects sited close to the large electricity loads of Southern California we avoid the need for transmission upgrades that can add to construction time and trigger lengthy environmental reviews.
Interconnection/Transmission Readiness — By analyzing the local grid and utilizing power flow studies, Recurrent Energy's interconnection experts were able to deliver sites with a high likelihood of smooth interconnection. Additionally, Recurrent Energy's focus on distributed-scale projects helps ensure a less complicated interconnection process, relative to central-scale projects.
Site Control/Site Expertise — Recurrent Energy's site control team conducted an extensive analysis of the sites early on in the development process, ensuring that any issues associated with easements, permitting, environmental and geotechnical analysis were identified and addressed.
Overall Project Viability — Recurrent Energy is able to deliver highly viable projects thanks to our team of finance experts, strong relationships with bankers and financiers, and access to capital.
In The News
The New York Times — “A Boom in Distributed Solar Projects”
Reuters — “Recurrent Energy, California Utility in Solar Pact”
Grist — “Large-scale Distributed Energy is Here”
Dow Jones — “Edison International S Calif Utility to Buy 50 MW of Solar From Recurrent”
50 MW for SCE
“SCE sees solar as a key part of our renewable energy strategy. We were pleased to work with Recurrent Energy’s experienced energy development, finance, and construction team to bring these distributed-scale solar projects online quickly. Projects like this make big steps toward contributing to California’s clean, green energy future.”
Marc Ulrich, Vice President, Renewable and Alternative Power at Southern California Edison
“Recurrent is selling distributed solar power, but in quantities that matter, at a price that’s competitive. [They're a] proof of concept that distributed projects can be aggregated into large-scale power purchase agreements. Distributed energy is now a viable market option.”
Grist Magazine
