Largest solar-plus-storage project by a California CCA coming via Clean Power Alliance, 8minute

8minute Solar Energy  executed a 15-year power purchase agreement with Clean Power Alliance for the 400-MW Rexford 1 Solar & Storage Center in Tulare County — which includes 180 MW/540 MWh of energy storage. When it becomes operational in 2023, Rexford will provide enough energy for over 370,000 Californians, making it the largest solar + storage project for any community choice aggregator to date.

“The recent blackouts and continued wildfires in California offer sobering proof of the urgent need for more renewable and reliable energy generation that both fortifies our grid and fights climate change – and large-scale solar paired with energy storage is the most efficient, lowest-cost way to achieve just that,” said  Tom Buttgenbach, Founder and CEO of 8minute.

The Rexford 1 Solar & Storage Center will be constructed on private, low-productivity disturbed farmland in Tulare County, and is an example of the economic value that solar projects can provide to private landowners.

Good deal

Construction, which will begin in early 2022, will create over 400 union construction jobs, and approximately 1,000 indirect jobs, in addition to contributing more than $200 million to the local economy over the life of the project. The investment, construction and operational inflows to Tulare County represent a huge economic boost for decades to come.

“Solar-plus-storage is not only the cleanest way to increase grid reliability, it’s also the smartest and most cost-effective,” said Ted Bardacke, Executive Director of Clean Power Alliance. “We are excited to partner on a project of this scale with 8minute, a trusted Los Angeles-based developer that shares our commitment to accelerating the clean energy transition in California.”

Rexford 1 marks 8minute’s second project with Clean Power Alliance, and underscores 8minute’s continued success on record-breaking solar-plus-storage projects that are helping ensure reliability and advance California’s ambitious clean energy goals. 8minute has contracted 4.5 gigawatts of solar projects, with over 18 gigawatts of solar energy capacity and 24 gigawatt hours of storage under development across California, Texas, and the Southwestern United States.

— Solar Builder magazine

[source: https://solarbuildermag.com/news/clean-power-alliance-agrees-to-largest-solar-plus-storage-project-by-a-california-community-choice-aggregator/]