San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has signed and submitted for approval a second 20-year power-purchase agreement (PPA) with an LS Power subsidiary to procure up to 45 MW of solar energy from the proposed Centinela Solar Energy facility, to be located 90 miles east of San Diego in California's Imperial Valley.
The new contract, combined with a 20-year agreement SDG&E signed in May for up to 130 MW of power from the Centinela project, will provide for a combined total of up to 175 MW of energy.
Upon completion in 2014, the Centinela project will send solar power to SDG&E's service territory across the Sunrise Powerlink, a 120-mile, 500 kV electric transmission line that was designed to increase power reliability in the region and tap into the vast renewable resources of the Imperial Valley. When completed in 2012, the new power line is expected to carry up to 1 GW of electricity.
Under the new contract, which runs through 2034, the Centinela Solar Energy facility will employ photovoltaic technology on a 1,350-acre site near Calexico, Calif. At peak, the entire project will generate as much as 175 MW of electricity.
SOURCE: San Diego Gas & Electric
