EDF Renewables North America has announced the completion and commercial operation of the 173.4MWdc Maverick 1 and 135.9MWdc Maverick 4 solar projects in California.
Maverick 1 provides 125MWac of electricity to Southern California Edison under a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA), while Maverick 4 supplies 100MWac of energy and renewable attributes to Shell Energy North America under a 15-year PPA signed back in 2018. Both projects feature horizontal single-axis tracking technology.
“We acknowledge the perseverance demonstrated by the project teams, including our construction and supplier partners, in safely completing the projects during the pandemic,” said Benoit Rigal, EDF Renewables vice president of engineering and construction.
With a combined capacity of 309.3MWdc, the projects are part-owned by Masdar, following a deal last year in which the Abu Dhabi-based company bought a 50% stake in 689MW of US solar assets from EDF.
The two parks are part of the Palen Solar project and located adjacent to each other on unincorporated land in Riverside County that is administered by the Bureau of Land Management, which authorised EDF to develop Palen Solar in 2018 and designated the area as a Solar Energy Zone and Development Focus Area – land set aside for utility-scale renewable energy development.
Ryan Pfaff, executive vice president of grid-scale power at EDF Renewables, said the company is pleased to partner with Southern California Edison and Shell to help California meet its clean energy goals. By 2045, all the state’s electricity must come from carbon-free or renewable energy.
“The backing of local, state and federal government is critically important to renewable development and we thank all those who supported this project through its development,” Pfaff said.
EDF Renewables’ Asset Optimization group will perform operations and maintenance services for the life of the two projects, providing NERC compliance support, remote monitoring and balance-of-plant management.
EDF Renewables North America, which recently acquired a 4.5GW US PV project pipeline from Geenex Solar, is a subsidiary of EDF Renouvelables, the clean energy affiliate of French utility EDF Group.
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