EDF Renewable Energy of Rosamund, CA (the US subsidiary of EDF Energies Nouvelles, the renewable energy arm of electricity company EDF group) has dedicated its 143MWp (110MWac) Catalina Solar project in Kern County, California. The project represents EDF Renewable Energy’s largest utility-scale solar photovoltaic project to date.
Located on 900 acres of privately owned land southwest of the Tehachapi and Piute mountains, the thin-film photovoltaic project consists of 82MWp of CIS (copper indium selenium) modules from Tokyo-based Solar Frontier (a subsidiary of Japanese energy business Showa Shell Sekiyu) and 61MWp of cadmium telluride (CdTe) modules from First Solar Inc of Tempe, AZ, USA. The project is currently the world’s eighth largest photovoltaic plant (according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance) and generates electricity for 35,000 homes. EDF Renewable Services is providing the long-term operations and maintenance (O&M) services.
“Catalina Solar consists of over 1.1 million solar PV panels and is estimated to offset 250,000 metric tons of greenhouse-gas emissions annually,” commented Javier De La Garza, director of solar development for EDF Renewable Energy’s West Region. “The project has been an important source of direct and indirect economic activity in Kern County, including over 500 workers on-site during construction,” he adds. "The Catalina Solar project has played a vital role for jobs and the economy in my district,” commented Senator Jean Fuller.
The project also contributes towards California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) goal of 33% renewable energy by 2020. The project’s energy is provided to San Diego Gas & Electric’s (SDG&E) under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA). EDF Renewable Energy has 343MW of renewable energy generation through three projects to meet its contract obligations to SDG&E, all of which are located in Kern County.
“Catalina Solar is an example of a renewable energy project that has overcome a number of regulatory and commercial challenges,” noted Matt Burkhart, VP of electric and fuel procurement for SDG&E.
EDF Renewable Energy is one of the largest renewable energy developers in California and the USA. With Catalina Solar, it is generating a combined 835MW of energy for California.
