TotalEnergies and the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) dedicated the Orinda Photovoltaic Solar Energy Project (Orinda PV) in Oakland, California.
Orinda PV is EBMUD’s largest solar facility, designed, built, owned and operated by TotalEnergies. The 4.6 MW project will supply the not-for-profit water agency with approximately 10 million kWh of clean solar energy per year under a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), significantly offsetting EBMUD’s greenhouse gas emissions and advancing the utility’s progress to its goal of carbon neutrality by 2030.
“The Orinda PV project represents a leap in EBMUD’s clean energy production and supports our mission to deliver safe and affordable drinking water while protecting the environment,” said EBMUD general manager Clifford Chan. “We believe investing in a sustainable future is the right thing to do for our customers and our planet, not only for today but for future generations.”
Orinda PV contains over 12,000 high-efficiency panels mounted on single-axis trackers that maximize energy production on the 12-acre site. The site’s landscaping incorporates vegetative screening that minimizes the PV system’s visibility from nearby nature trails and the Briones Reservoir, a popular recreation area.
“We applaud EBMUD for investing in clean energy to pursue impressive carbon neutrality goals,” said Eric Potts, VP of TotalEnergies Renewables USA. “As a top solar developer in the U.S. and globally, we help utilities such as EBMUD leverage solar power to achieve their sustainability targets and reduce their long-term energy costs.”
The Orinda PV project is expected to offset 10% of EBMUD’s current energy costs. The PV system will be interconnected with the local utility grid under PG&E’s Renewable Energy Self-Generation Bill Credit Transfer (RES-BCT) Program, which allows the electricity generated by the project to offset energy consumed from up to 50 of the EBMUD’s electrical accounts with PG&E. The project’s location next to PG&E’s Sobrante Substation reduces the costs and impacts of interconnection with the electricity grid.
EBMUD is a not-for-profit public agency headquartered in Oakland and provides high-quality drinking water for more than 1.4 million customers in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. The agency also operates a wastewater system serving 740,000 customers that helps protect the ecosystem of the San Francisco Bay.
— Solar Builder magazine
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