Terra-Gen and Mortenson Will Build Solar-Plus-Storage Project

New York-based renewable energy developer Terra-Gen has collaborated with construction firm Mortenson to build what they claim is the world’s largest standalone solar-plus-storage project to date. The Edwards & Sanborn energy project consists of 1,118 MW of solar and 2,165 MWh of energy storage in Kern County, which has become California’s unofficial large-scale solar capital due to the number of projects being built there.

As per Brian Gorda, vice president of engineering, Terra-Gen, this project will supply energy for “all hours of demand”.

According to Terra-Gen, the developer said it will break ground on the project in early 2021, and expects it to come online by the end of 2022. The project will utilize more than 2.5 million solar and more than 110,000 lithium-ion battery modules.

The project has already received interest from corporate customers. Supplier LevelTen Energy has facilitated a deal between Terra-Gen and Starbucks that will see the coffee chain purchase 24MW of solar power and 5.5MW of battery storage from the new Kern County facility. Starbucks said in a separate announcement the deal will supply renewable energy for 550 branches in California.

Starbucks has previously called on LevelTen to bolster its use of renewables. The service helped to develop a 146MW renewable portfolio through a string of power purchase agreements (PPS) in June 2019, which is set to power over 3,000 stores through solar and wind plants in Texas, North Carolina, and the US Southwest Power Pool the following year.

Terra-Gen was established in August 2007, led by an experienced executive management team averaging over 25 years of relevant industry experience. The team has contracted or re-contracted over 10,000 MW of power generation facilities and has developed or acquired over $25 billion in assets over their careers. As a leading renewable energy developer that operates over 1.3 GW of wind, solar, and geothermal facilities, they specialize in the development, construction, and operation of utility-scale wind, solar, energy storage, and geothermal generation facilities.