Shell Energy PPA Drives EDP Renewables North America’s Sandrini Solar Project in California

Renewables developer EDP Renewables North America has introduced Sandrini I & II solar energy park (Sandrini I & II) in Kern County, California.

The two-phase solar energy park includes the 200 MW Sandrini I, which has a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Shell Energy North America (SENA), and 100 MW Sandrini II, which has a 15-year PPA with Redwood Coast Energy Authority (RCEA). Both phases of the project were commissioned in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Sandrini I is generating enough energy to power the equivalent of more than 76,000 California homes each year and has disbursed more than $510,000 in tax payments to local governments since 2023. This has strengthened the local community by enhancing schools, roads, and other essential services.

"Sandrini I & II represent EDP Renewables' continued commitment to investing in California and are a direct contribution to California's admirable target of achieving 100 percent clean electricity by 2045," added Sandhya Ganapathy, CEO of EDP Renewables North America.

PPA customers don’t always receive the renewable energy generation directly, but their investment helps finance construction and deployment of the project into the overall grid. Those customers can receive and benefit from renewable energy credits on the clean power produced. 

Sandrini II will provide power to over a third of the total annual electric need for customers of RCEA's community choice energy program. RCEA supplies more than 90 percent of the electricity for Humboldt County on California's rural north coast. Completion of Sandrini II will enable RCEA supply 100 percent renewable energy to its customers by 2030.

Sandrini II adds to 8,000 MW of new clean energy resources unveiled by California's community choice aggregators (CCAs).  An additional 10,000 MW of new clean resources are in contract with these CCAs and are currently under development or construction.

Together, the CCAs' clean energy projects support over 36,000 construction jobs across California and the West.

"RCEA is committed to achieving our goal of supplying Humboldt County with 100% renewable energy,” RCEA Board Chair Sarah Schaefer, said. “Sandrini II is a welcomed addition to our energy portfolio.”

Approximately $15 million in royalties will be paid to local landowners, who lease a portion of their land to house the solar energy park's infrastructure. Sandrini I & II employed more than 200 workers during construction and will create several permanent operations positions.

The construction and ongoing operations of Sandrini I & II will continue to assist in local spending and support of small businesses located near the project. Both phases of the solar energy park save more than 381 million gallons of water each year as compared to the amount of water required by conventional generation sources to produce the same amount of capacity.

EDP Renewables North American has completed or is constructing numerous solar projects in the U.S. contracted under PPAs with companies such as Meta, Walmart, Google, McDonald's and Lufthansa Technik in Puerto Rico.