SunEdison, Inc. (NYSE: SUNE) has announced the signing of two 20-year power purchase agreements (solar PPA’s) with Southern California Edison for 2.7 megawatts DC of solar.
Southern California Edison has been investigating how clean energy resources could delay or eliminate the construction of a new gas power plant in Orange County.
“Solar is a great way for utilities to boost grid reliability without emitting greenhouse gases,” said SunEdison’s Sam Youneszadeh. ” Solar is cost effective, quick-to-build, and can easily scale. It’s great to see Southern California Edison looking after the people it serves.”
Under the solar PPA arrangements, SunEdison will install, own and operate each system, while Southern California Edison will benefit from low-cost, clean solar electricity – and without any up-front cost involved. Similar arrangements can also available to Australian companies for commercial solar installations.
The systems constructed for Southern California Edison will be a combination of parking canopies and rooftop space.
SunEdison has extensive experience in constructing solar carports, which also provide much-welcomed shade for vehicles. In January, the company announced solar power purchase agreements with dozens of schools in California that will see solar car parking canopies constructed at each facility. Last year, SunEdison completed a massive 3.2 megawatt solar parking canopy at Bristol Community College’s Fall River Campus.
The solar power systems constructed for the Southern California Edison project are expected to generate enough energy to power 640 California homes and will avoid the emission of more than 22,679 tonnes of carbon dioxide over 20 years.
Southern California Edison is one of the USA’s largest electric utilities, supplying power to 15 million people. In 2014, the company delivered approximately 17.7 billion kWh of renewable power; approximately 23.5 percent of all the electricity it delivered that year. At that point, solar made up 15% of the company’s renewable capacity portfolio.
Southern California Edison has been generating electricity with solar power since the 1980’s.
Under California legislation, electricity utilities must source 40% of their retail sales from renewables by 2024, 45% by 2027 and 50% by 2030.
