SMUD Signs Its First Combined Solar And Battery Storage Energy System PPA

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 8, 2022

D. E. Shaw Renewable Investments and California’s Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) on March 7 announced the signing of SMUD’s first combined solar and battery energy storage system renewable power purchase agreement sized at 200 megawatts/400 megawatt hours.

According to D.E. Shaw, the project is the largest combined solar and battery energy storage system generation facility announced in northern California under PPA contract at this time.

The project will be located on the east side of Sacramento County and is expected to reach commercial operation no later than 2024.

The agricultural ranch that currently operates on the proposed project site will continue to run in parallel to the energy facility, and the project will incorporate key aspects of environmental sustainability into design and ongoing operations.  Affiliates of Bona Terra Energy, LLC assisted as co-developers in the project.

As part of the project, the SMUD Clean Energy Community Leaders-Mark Gall Memorial Scholarship will be funded by D. E. Shaw Renewable Investments.

The scholarship will help cultivate local workforce talent and support students in the greater Sacramento area who demonstrate interest in renewable energy development.