California officials consider 500 MW solar project

The project would be right at home in Kern County, which already hosts multiple utility-scale projects in the 100 MW+ range.

September 27, 2021 Tim Sylvia

Image: Avantus

Officials in Kern County, California, are scheduled to hear about a potential 530 MW solar project that would be built near Boron and Desert Lake, northeast of Los Angeles.

The project is the Aratina solar project, a 530 MW installation made up of five new solar facilities, considered as a single project. Set to be developed by 8minute Solar Energy, the project would sit on 2,300 acres of private land.

If approved, the project would become among the biggest in Kern County, which is already home to a number of large projects, many developed by 8minute, both live and under development.

One of these is the Springbok solar cluster, a group of three projects, all developed by 8minute. The three have a combined capacity of 443 MW and were completed in three phases.

Springbok 1 is the first arm of the installation, coming in at 137 MW. It was completed in July 2016. Springbok 2 is a 191 MW installation, also completed in 2016. The last of the group, Springbok 3, is a 115 MW and was completed in July 2019.

Earlier this year, Clearway Energy Group completed the 192 MW Rosamond Central solar project. Constructed by McCarthy Building Cos., this Kern County installation has power purchase agreements with regional community choice aggregators East Bay Community Energy and Clean Power Alliance, as well as the City of Palo Alto Utilities.

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