EDF Renewables North America announced the completion and commercial operation of the Desert Harvest 1 (114 MW) and Desert Harvest 2 (100 MW) solar projects. Desert Harvest 1 provides electricity to MCE under a 20 year power purchase agreement (PPA), while Desert Harvest 2 supplies energy and renewable attributes to Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA) under a 25 year renewable energy credit (REC) and Index structure contract.
The two projects are located adjacent to each other on unincorporated land in Riverside County, California, administered by the Federal Bureau of Land Management. The two projects consist of horizontal single-axis tracking solar photovoltaic (PV) technology. Desert Harvest 2 includes a 35 MW, 4-hour energy storage system.
In addition to economic benefits for Riverside County, the combined projects generate enough clean energy to meet the consumption of up to 77,000 average California homes. This is equivalent to avoiding more than 353,000 metric tons of CO emissions annually which represents the greenhouse gas emissions from 76,000 passenger vehicles driven over the course of one year. EDF Renewables’ Asset Optimization group will perform operations and maintenance services for the life of the project. The group will provide NERC compliance support, remote monitoring, and balance-of-plant management to maximize power production.
“EDF Renewables is pleased to partner with MCE and SCPPA’s participating members – Anaheim, Burbank, and Vernon to supply affordable, in-state solar energy to their respective customers through the desert harvest solar projects,” commented Ryan Pfaff, Executive Vice President of Development at EDF Renewables. “MCE’s partnership with EDF Renewables on the Desert Harvest project provided an exciting opportunity to invest in clean, renewable solar energy, while growing California’s economy through in-state job creation,” said Dawn Weisz, CEO of MCE.
