Engie’s 200 MW solar project secured P&G as offtaker; DOI announces full operations of Blythe solar+ storage plant; Opdenergy’s PPA with Entergy Louisiana approved; EDPR NA constructing 240 MW solar park; Canadian Solar’s new energy storage offerings.
Engie secures solar PPA with P&G: US based multinational consumer goods brand Procter & Gamble (P&G) has entered a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Engie North America for 200 MW Sun Valley Solar Project in Hill County, Texas. P&G says this is its largest solar energy agreement globally and will supply it with more than 530,000 MWh of renewable power annually helping it in its journey to achieve net zero GHG emissions by 2040. For Engie this project is part of its over 5 GW wind, solar and storage capacity either in operation or construction across North America. Engie plans for the site to host locally appropriate vegetation that supports pollinators and also enable up to 1,500 sheep to graze the site.
Blythe Solar & Storage Project online: The Blyth Solar Power Project with 485 MW PV and 387 MW battery energy storage system (BESS) in Riverside County, California, US is now fully operational. The US Department of the Interior (DOI) has announced the full commissioning of the facility that’s located on public land. It was completed by NextEra Energy Resources in 4 phases divided as 110 MW under phase I, and remaining 3 phases bringing online 125 MW each. The Blythe project was permitted as part of the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP) Land Use Plan Amendment through which the government plans to offer 10.8 million acres of public land in desert regions of 7 Californian counties for renewable energy development. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is currently processing 64 utility scale onshore clean energy projects on public lands in the Western US comprising solar, wind and geothermal facilities along with interconnect gen-tie lines. The Interior Department says these projects have a combined potential to add more than 41 GW of renewable energy to the grid.
Opdenergy’s 160 MW DC project moves forward: Spanish independent renewable energy producer Odpenergy has secured an approval from Louisiana Public Service Commission to sell power from its 160 MW DC Elizabeth Solar Project to Entergy Louisiana for 20 years. The project is located in Allen Parish, Louisiana and is to enter construction in early 2023. Grid connection is likely in H1/2024 when it is expected to generate about 302,000 MWh annually. The company currently has about 3 GW renewable energy assets in different stages of development across the US.
EDPR constructing 240 MW solar park in Texas: EDP Renewables North America (EDPR NA) has started constructing its 240 MW CattIeman I Solar Park in Milam County of Texas. The facility is planned to come online in 2023 as the company’s maiden solar park in Texas. For this project, EDPR NA has signed long-term commercial agreements with Meta (previously Facebook) for 156 MW capacity and with Bristol Myers Squibb for 60 MW capacity (see Another PPA Between EDPR & Meta).
Canadian Solar’s launches SolBank: Canada headquartered solar and storage company Canadian Solar has launched its proprietary designed and manufactured energy storage battery solution for utility scale projects. The product SolBank is a creation of CSI Energy that’s part of Canadian Solar’s majority subsidiary CSI Solar Co Ltd. SolBank is a lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) chemistry-based enclosure with up to 2,800 kWh of usable energy capacity. It is designed with liquid cooling and humidity control and active balancing battery management system (BMS). The company claims it will be one of the most bankable and competitive integrated battery storage solutions in the market. CSI Energy Storage has an annual battery manufacturing capacity of 2.5 GWh which it aims to expand to 10 GWh by the end of 2023 at its workshops in China’s Jiangsu. At the end of Q2/2022, CSI Energy Storage’s system integration’s total pipeline reached 11 GWh.
Another Canadian Solar subsidiary CSI Solar Co Ltd has also released EP Cube as a lightweight and sleek all-in-one residential energy storage solution with capacity ranging from 9.9 kWh to 19.9 kWh. It has a hybrid inverter and stackable battery modules that take up very little wall space. Its performance can be tracked using an app provided by the company.
