Silicon Valley Clean Energy Enters Solar, Storage Agreements

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
September 21, 2023

California community choice aggregator Silicon Valley Clean Energy on Sept. 20 announced the execution of two 15-year agreements with subsidiaries of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC.

The agreements include Grace Orchard Solar, a new build solar project, and Yellow Pine III, a new-build standalone battery storage project.

The Grace Orchard Solar project is slated to come online in the summer of 2027 and will provide SVCE 120 megawatts of renewable solar energy, accounting for 8-9% of SVCE’s 2028 annual retail sales.

The renewable energy will contribute to SVCE’s Renewable Portfolio Standard requirements set by the state.

SVCE has also purchased 115 MW of four-hour lithium-ion battery capacity, 460 megawatt-hours, from the Yellow Pine III project that is expected to be online in summer 2025. The battery storage will count towards SVCE’s resource adequacy requirements and Mid-Term Reliability obligations.

With these new projects, SVCE has contracted for over 20 long-term power purchase agreements totaling nearly 800 MW of clean and renewable capacity and nearly 1,845 MWh of battery storage.

SVCE expects that in 2030 more than 70% of its clean power mix will come from renewable energy, surpassing the goals set by SB 100, which requires energy generated from 60% renewable sources by 2030 and 100% carbon-free by 2045.

In 2020, SVCE contracted with NextEra Energy Resources for 50 MW of renewable solar capacity and 104 MWh of battery storage from the new-build Yellow Pine I project.

The Yellow Pine I project successfully began delivering power to SVCE customers in July 2023.

Silicon Valley Clean Energy is a not-for-profit, community-owned agency providing clean electricity from renewable and carbon-free sources to more than 275,000 residential and commercial customers in 13 Santa Clara County jurisdictions.