San Diego Gas & Electric has signed and submitted for approval a second 20-year power purchase agreement with an LS Power subsidiary to buy up to an additional 45MW of solar photovoltaic-based energy from the proposed Centinela Solar Energy facility, which will be located on a 1350-acre site near Calexico in California’s Imperial Valley. The contract is subject to California Public Utilities Commission approval.
The new deal runs through 2034. When combined with a 20-year PPA that the utility signed in May for up to 130MW of power from the Centinela project, it will provide enough electricity for more than 60,000 homes. The site is scheduled for completion in 2014.
The Centinela facility will send solar-generated power to SDG&E’s service territory across the Sunrise Powerlink, a 120-mile, 500KV electric transmission line, which was designed to increase power reliability in the region and tap into the substantial renewable energy resources of the Imperial Valley.
When completed in 2012, the Powerlink line is expected to carry up to 1GW of electricity.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.