One of US’ largest solar & storage hybrid projects by Clearway; Brookfield renames Duke’s RE acquisition; EDPR NA DG launches solar & storage project for MEC; Hitachi Energy invests in Powin’s EKS; Aspen Power builds 49.4 MW capacity in Georgia.
Clearway Energy’s 482 MW solar plant online: Clearway Energy Group has switched on a 482 MW solar and 280 MW energy storage project calling it one of the largest operating solar and storage hybrid facilities in the US. The Daggett Solar+Storage Project is situated adjacent to the decommissioned Coolwater gas-fired power plant in San Bernardino County, California. The full Daggett Solar+Storage complex is being completed in 3 stages. Once the final 113.5 MW storage portion is online in 2025, it will take the project’s full battery capacity to 394 MW. Clearway said the 113.5 MW storage capacity is separately contracted with an investment-grade rated utility offtaker. The entire project is contracted with 6 load serving entities including Clean Power Alliance, Constellation, East Bay Community Energy (EBCE) soon to be rebranded as Ava Community Energy, MCE, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), and Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA).
Brookfield’s new RE entity: Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) has completed the acquisition of Duke Energy’s unregulated commercial renewables business. It has now renamed the same as Deriva Energy. Headed by President Chris Fallon, Deriva Energy will independently develop, own and operate clean energy projects with Brookfield providing access to capital. The company has 5.9 GW of operational and under construction wind, utility-scale solar and storage assets in the US. It was previously known as Duke Energy Renewables (see North America PV News Snippets).
Duke Energy separately announced that this sale to Brookfield completes its transition to a fully regulated utility. It plans to use the proceeds to enhance grid reliability to help incorporate over 30 GW of regulated renewable energy into its system by 2035.
New solar and storage project in Arizona: EDP Renewables North America Distributed Generation (EDPR NA DG) has inaugurated a 23.27 MW DC ground mounted solar array with a 15 MW/60 MWh energy storage system for Mohave Electric Cooperative (MEC). The company said the solar and storage array will provide MEC with renewable energy, mitigate peak period energy use and stabilize energy costs. It was developed with Prometheus Power, and its energy storage component will be operated by AI-driven clean energy optimization software Athena.
Hitachi Energy invests in Powin: Energy storage solutions provider Powin LLC has announced a partnership with Hitachi Energy under which the latter will take a majority ownership in eks Energy (EKS). Powin acquired power electronics and energy management solutions supplier for renewables and energy storage industry, EKS in September 2022. The duo plans to capture the growing need for storage in the renewables space, bringing together Powin’s extensive battery expertise and Hitachi’s experience in the electric energy industry.
14 solar projects completed in Georgia: Distributed generation (DG) renewables company Aspen Power has completed the construction of 14 solar projects in Georgia, US. It had acquired this portfolio representing 49.4 MW DC capacity from Inman Solar. All these ground mounted projects are equipped with solar panels with single-axis trackers and contracted under long-term power purchase agreements (PPA) with Georgia Power. Aspen says all these projects expands its Georgia portfolio to 43 projects representing more than 140 MW DC of generating capacity.
