BayWa r.e., renewable energy developer and services provider, and San Diego Community Power (SDCP), a not-for-profit community choice energy program serving five cities in the San Diego region, recently signed a power purchase agreement (PPA). The project will pair a 90-megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic array with a 70-MW/280-MWh DC-coupled battery energy storage system for the Jacumba Valley Ranch Energy Park (JVR), which is being developed by BayWa r.e. near Jacumba Hot Springs in San Diego County, CA. Under the terms of the agreement, SDCP will purchase power for 20 years from JVR Energy Park.
When complete, the solar and storage system will generate enough electricity to power at least 52,000 San Diego Community Power customer households annually; offset more than 500,000 metric tons of carbon emissions over the life of the project; and create 350 construction jobs through a Project Labor Agreement with local unions. It is expected to reach full operational status in Q1 2023.
SDCP was formed in fall 2019 and launched electricity supply services in March 2021 for municipal customers in the five member cities of Chula Vista, Envinitas, Imperial Beach, La Mesa and San Diego. It began serving commercial and industrial customers in June 2021 and will launch its residential phase in the first quarter of 2022. The program provides local control and consumer choice regarding energy decisions on a large scale for the first time in the region's history.
“The renewable energy produced and stored at the JVR Energy Park will be an important foundational block of SDCP’s planned power supply portfolio,” said Joe Mosca, chair of the SDCP board and Encinitas city council member. “Working with an experienced renewables developer such as BayWa r.e. gives us confidence that we will meet our clean energy and climate goals.”
“JVR Energy Park will be a major step forward in the deployment of storage-integrated utility-scale solar in California, delivering competitively priced clean power as well as resiliency and reliability to the grid,” said Jam Attari, CEO of BayWa r.e. Solar Projects in the U.S. “We’re excited to partner with a forward-looking community choice aggregator like San Diego Clean Power on this innovative project.”
The Jacumba site, which consists of flat, formerly agricultural land located adjacent to SDG&E transmission infrastructure, makes it ideal to be able to provide SDCP’s customers with clean and reliable energy. The Jacumba agreement represents SDCP’s first solar and storage PPA in San Diego County. As part of the development plan, the project has committed to funding improvements to the local community park as well as the preservation of 435 acres of native habitat.