Ohana Real Estate Investors and Tesla have a plan to take its 1,400-acre master planned community completely off-grid, what Ohana believes to be first-of-its-kind energy solution at the Twin Dolphin community in Los Cabos, Mexico.
Developed, owned and operated by Ohana, Twin Dolphin is a 1,400-acre master-planned community that includes Maravilla Los Cabos, a private residential community and club, Montage Los Cabos resort and residences, and Twin Dolphin Club, featuring an 18-hole Fred Couples Signature golf course. In addition to Twin Dolphin, Ohana’s solar energy program with Tesla will also be implemented at Ohana’s brand new Montage Healdsburg resort, which will open in late fall 2020 in Sonoma County, California.
The initiative at Twin Dolphin will leverage Tesla’s fully integrated solar panels and battery energy storage and software systems to provide reliable renewable energy for the entire community. Guided by Ohana’s ongoing commitment to conservation and sustainability, the firm is making a significant financial investment to reach this objective, and after many years of planning and negotiation, the first phase has received government approvals and is currently underway.
The project will generate over 20 gigawatt-hours of electricity with the potential for increased efficiency over time. The project consists of a six-system portfolio installed throughout the property, which includes a central ground-mount site spanning over 22 acres, located adjacent to Twin Dolphin’s already existing state-of-the-art reverse osmosis and desalination plant that provides potable water to the entire community. Furthermore Tesla Powerhub, a data platform to monitor energy use, is incorporated into the project to use real-time and historical data tracking to optimize its energy usage, improve performance, and help inform future decisions.
The new systems will not only provide energy for Twin Dolphin, but also generate clean back-up power for the community, allowing the system to run completely off-grid as needed in the event of power outages due to storms or natural disasters. The back-up power supply also relieves the burden on the local power grid as the Baja region of Mexico experiences energy shortages with increased development, even transferring additional energy back to the local power grid of Los Cabos when available.
“We are incredibly excited to see our vision of being the first off-the-grid community in Cabo coming to life. We are grateful for the partnership and engagement of Tesla and their technologies, which have made much of this possible. Our larger vision is that other premier master plan community developers will follow our lead and implement similar projects so that collectively we can help preserve our environment,” says Chris Smith, CEO of Ohana Real Estate Investors.
This new solar initiative complements Ohana’s commitment to being environmentally sensitive and forward thinking, which has guided its practices at all of its development properties, and has been a particular focus at Twin Dolphin. Sustainability initiatives at Twin Dolphin include the preservation of over 40,000 native plants during the development of the property maintained by its reverse osmosis and desalination plant, conserving energy through unique building design that utilizes automated smart systems for efficient energy use and maximizes natural cooling, utilizing locally sourced building materials, implementing tankless water heaters in all buildings and using LED lights throughout the property. Twin Dolphin also irrigates its Fred Couples Signature golf course and landscaping utilizing non-potable water produced from its desalination plant and waste water treatment facilities.
— Solar Builder magazine
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