Japanese-owned renewables firm Idemitsu Renewables has begun operations at a utility-scale solar-plus-storage project in California.
The 60MW/152MWh Azalea project is contracted under a power purchase agreement (PPA) with a public utility, the Sonoma Clean Power Authority (SCP), which was agreed back in 2023. The energy storage portion of the project is a 38MW/152MWh, 4-hour duration lithium-ion battery.
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SCP is a proponent of California’s Community Choice Aggregation model, which allows towns, cities and other communities to pool electricity demand and buying power.
Construction of the Azalea project, in Kern County, California, was completed by SOLV Energy, one of the US’ largest solar engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firms. Construction financing for the project was provided by a consortium comprising Mizuho Bank, LTD., Commerzbank AG, and U.S. Bank, and the latter also provided tax equity investment for the site.
Idemitsu Renewables is the US renewables subsidiary of Japanese petroleum firm Idemitsu Kosan. CEO of the US firm, Cary Vandenberg, said: “Achieving COD at Azalea underscores our team’s ability to deliver complex renewable projects that provide both environmental and economic value.”
Solar-plus-storage is increasingly common in mature solar markets, and particularly California. Last month alone, UK-based Octopus Energy acquired a California solar-plus-storage project as part of a US$1 billion investment into the state’s energy sector, and private equity firm Younan Company unveiled plans for an 880MW co-located battery and solar facility.
After five editions of Large Scale Solar USA, the event becomes SolarPLUS USA to mirror where the market is heading. The 2026 edition, held in Dallas, Texas, on 24-25 March, will bring together developers, investors and utilities to discuss managing hybrid assets, multi-state pipelines, power demand increase from data centres and AI as well as the co-location of solar PV with energy storage in a complex grid. For more details and how to attend the event, visit the website here.
