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    Sacramento utility signs PPA for 200 MW Solar & 400MWh Battery Storage project in northern California

    March 11, 2022
    The Coyote Creek Agrivoltaic Ranch Project will be located on approximately 2,250 acres in the Cosumnes community. The site will include solar panels, battery storage, inverters, substation tie-in and backup generators
    Image credit CoyoteCreekSolar.com
    Sunflower Solar 622a6db16973f

    Sacramento Municipal Utility District will be the taker of 200 MW/400 MWh in combined solar and battery energy storage generated when the work is completed on the massive project in northern California.

    SMUD signed the power purchase agreement (PPA) with project developer and owner D.E. Shaw Renewable Investments (DESRI). The site, due to completed in east Sacramento County sometime in 2024, is SMUD’s first such deal and considered the biggest large facility in that region under PPA contract, according to the release.

    As part of the agreement, DESRI will fund the SMUD Clean Energy Community Leaders-Mark Gall Memorial Scholarship which is designed to cultivate local workforce talent in the renewable energy industry.

    “Partnerships are a key component to SMUD reaching our 2030 zero carbon goals,” Frankie McDermott, SMUD’s COO, said. “We are committed to using every tool in the toolbox, and innovative projects like this that combine solar and battery storage will enable us to provide the region with clean and reliable power as we transition away from natural gas resources.”

    The Coyote Creek Agrivoltaic Ranch Project will be located on approximately 2,250 acres in the Cosumnes community. The site will include solar panels, battery storage, inverters, substation tie-in and diesel, propane or battery powered backup generators, according to documents.

    The construction phase will employ close to 400 people, according to reports. The agricultural ranch currently operate on the proposed project site will continue to run in parallel to the energy facility.

    Affiliates of Bona Terra Energy LLC are working as co-developers on the project.

    The state of California has targeted a goal of about 25 GW (or 25,000 MW) in renewable and energy storage capacity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 56 percent (below 1990 levels) by 2030.

    About the Author

    Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor | Senior Editor

    For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].

    Rod Walton has spent 15 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

    He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.

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