Solar-plus-storage at site of decommissioned gas-fired plant in California

The Clearway Energy Group recently celebrated Daggett Solar+Storage reaching commercial operations. Located in the Mojave Desert community of Newberry Springs, Calif., the clean energy facility is located adjacent to the decommissioned Coolwater gas-fired power plant.

“This is exactly the sort of innovation and big thinking that California needs, repurposing old fossil fuel infrastructure to build one of the biggest solar and battery projects in the country,” said Governor Gavin Newsom. “With projects like this, we’ll achieve a 100% clean electric grid and drastically cut pollution to combat climate change – all while creating good-paying jobs.”

The solar installation uses JA Solar modules on Nextracker’s Horizon trackers.  In August, Clearway announced a volume commitment agreement of 2 GW of solar trackers from Nextracker, to be delivered over the next three years. The U.S.-made trackers are expected to supply a portion of Clearway’s solar development pipeline across 17 states.

The Daggett facility is being completed in three stages. The battery energy storage system (BESS) in the first two phases are 280 MW and 4 hours duration, which brings them to 1120 MWh. All three BESS phases of Daggett are 394 MW in total, which brings the total to 1576 MWh. The final 113.5 MW battery storage portion, which is separately contracted with an investment-grade rated utility offtaker, is slated to reach commercial operations in 2025. The lithium-ferro-phosphate (LFP) batteries are being supplied by Wärtsilä. Blattner supplied EPC services, while Clearway will provide ongoing operations and maintenance (O&M).

Clearway partnered with I.B.E.W. Local 477, creating over 500 union jobs during construction. The project will sustain over a dozen onsite full-time jobs and will continue to support local institutions such as the Silver Valley High School and Alternative Education Center, the Silver Valley Fire Alliance, and the local Chambers of Commerce.

Daggett Solar + Storage is expected to generate enough electricity to power more than 181,000 homes and will create up to $18.5 million in local tax revenue and $5 million in spending annually during operations.

The solar and storage assets are contracted with six load serving entities, including Clean Power Alliance, Constellation, East Bay Community Energy soon to be rebranded as Ava Community Energy, MCE, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), and Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA).

“The Daggett 2 Project will provide SCPPA with its first bundled renewable energy and energy storage project to reach commercial operation by supplying 65MWac of solar capacity and a 33MWac/132MWh battery energy storage system to our growing renewable and energy storage resource mix,” commented Michael Webster, executive Director of SCPPA.

San Francisco-based Clearway Energy Group owns and operate more than 8 GW of renewable and conventional energy assets in the U.S. The company estimates that its 5.6 GW of wind, solar and energy storage assets offset the equivalent of more than 10.5 million metric tons of carbon emissions.