SunEdison Inc. a leading global solar technology manufacturer and provider of solar energy services and its affiliate TerraForm Power, Inc. a global renewable energy company, today announced the completion and interconnection of a 2.6-MWdc system at the Coalinga State Hospital and a 1.6-MWdc system at the Pleasant Valley State Prison. The systems were installed for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and California Department of State Hospitals, and together will provide enough electricity annually to power approximately 800 homes.
“SunEdison has installed 40 MWdc of solar at 12 different locations for the CDCR,” said Bob Powell, president, North America at SunEdison. “It’s been a successful long term partnership for both parties dating back to 2006. Implementing solar at a state prison could be a complex undertaking given the stringent security requirements, but our extensive design and installation experience enables us to simplify the process and deliver on time and on budget.”
“Pleasant Valley is one of 12 prison sites that use solar-generated electricity, as part of our larger program to make all of our facilities as low-polluting and energy efficient as possible,” said Deborah Hysen, Acting Director of Facility Planning, Construction and Management for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. “Our use of solar energy is projected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 61,000 metric tons in 2014 and will save taxpayers approximately $78 million in energy costs over the next 20 years.”
Energy savings are realized via a 20 year power purchase agreement (PPA) with a subsidiary of TerraForm Power, the owner of the systems. These two commercial and industrial systems represent 4.2 MWdc of the 808 MWdc in TerraForm Power’s initial portfolio following its initial public offering on July 23, 2014. With the completion of these two projects, all five of the systems in TerraForm Power’s California Public Institutions portfolio are now fully operational. Operation and maintenance of the two solar power plants will be performed by the SunEdison Renewable Operation Center (ROC), which provides global 24/7 asset management, monitoring and reporting services.
“We are proud to announce this significant milestone in our partnership with California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which reinforces our position as a market leader in the commercial and industrial segment,” said Carlos Domenech, president, TerraForm Power. “This project also demonstrates our strong partnership with SunEdison, which is enabling us to accelerate our growth in the market, and we look forward to progressing with this and other global programs.”
— Solar Builder magazine
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