Peninsula Clean Energy Enters First Solar-Plus-Storage Power Purchase Agreement

October 1, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 1, 2021

California community choice aggregator (CCA) Peninsula Clean Energy and Leeward Renewable Energy have entered into a 15-year solar-plus-storage power purchase agreement (PPA) tied to Leeward’s 102-megawatt (MW) Chaparral Solar Facility in Kern County, California.

As part of the agreement, Redwood, Calif.-based Peninsula Clean Energy will also purchase the energy and capacity from Chaparral’s 52 MW (208 megawatt-hour) battery storage system.

Peninsula Clean Energy’s board of directors on September 25 approved the PPA, which is the organization’s first to involve a solar-plus-storage project. The CCA said that the Chaparral project will allow Peninsula Clean Energy to take another step toward its goal of delivering 100 percent renewable energy generation to its customers across San Mateo County and the City of Los Banos, Calif.

Construction of the facility will begin in December 2021 and the project is expected to begin delivering energy to Peninsula Clean Energy by December 2023. Leeward will own and operate the facility.

Peninsula Clean Energy is the official electricity provider for San Mateo County and, beginning in 2022, for the City of Los Banos. Founded in 2016, the agency serves 295,000 customers.

Peninsula Clean Energy is on track to deliver electricity that is 100 percent renewable by 2025 and has earned investment grade credit ratings from Moody’s and Fitch.

The American Public Power Association has initiated a new category of membership for community choice aggregation programs.

Additional information about Leeward is available here.