Peninsula Clean Energy, Leeward Renewable Energy Sign 15-year Solar-Plus-Storage Power Purchase Agreement for the Chaparral Solar Facility

First-of-its-kind project for Peninsula Clean Energy to provide 102MW of solar, 52MW of battery storage

Leeward Renewable Energy and Peninsula Clean Energy have entered into a 15-year solar-plus-storage Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) involving Leeward’s 102-megawatt (MW) Chaparral Solar Facility (Chaparral) in Kern County, California. As part of the agreement, Peninsula Clean Energy will also purchase the energy and capacity from Chaparral’s 52 MW (208 megawatt-hour) battery storage system, which will facilitate the transition to a cleaner and more reliable power grid.

Peninsula Clean Energy’s board of directors on September 25 approved the PPA, which is the organization’s first to involve a solar-plus-storage project. The Chaparral project will enable Peninsula Clean Energy to take another step toward its goal of delivering 100 percent renewable energy generation to its customers across San Mateo County and the City of Los Banos.

“While we continue to elevate the amount of solar, wind, geothermal and other clean generation, the storage capacity of this agreement is vital to ensuring we are getting closer to our ultimate goal of providing 24/7 emission-free renewable power to our customers by 2025,” Peninsula Clean Energy CEO Jan Pepper said.

“Leeward is very excited to build on its partnership with Peninsula Clean Energy in providing affordable and reliable renewable energy to its customers as well as helping the agency achieve its ambitious energy goals,” said Leeward’s Senior Vice President of Development, Kathryn Arbeit. “This agreement represents another critical step forward in the region’s transition to dispatchable clean energy and also showcases Leeward’s expanding solar and energy storage capabilities and growing footprint in California’s Antelope Valley.”

Construction of the facility will begin in December 2021 and the project is expected to begin delivering energy to Peninsula Clean Energy by December 2023. Leeward will own and operate the facility.

About Peninsula Clean Energy

Peninsula Clean Energy is a Community Choice Aggregation agency. It is the official electricity provider for San Mateo County and, beginning in 2022, for the City of Los Banos. Founded in 2016 with a mission to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the county, the agency serves 295,000 customers by providing more than 3,500 gigawatt hours annually of electricity that is 100 percent carbon-free and at lower cost than PG&E. As a community-led, not-for-profit agency, Peninsula Clean Energy makes significant investments in its communities to expand access to sustainable and affordable energy solutions. Peninsula Clean Energy is on track to deliver electricity that is 100 percent renewable by 2025. The agency has earned investment grade credit ratings from Moody’s and Fitch. Follow us at PenCleanEnergy.com, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

About Leeward Renewable Energy, LLC

Leeward Renewable Energy is a leading renewable energy company that owns and operates a portfolio of 22 renewable energy facilities across nine states totaling approximately 2,000 megawatts of generating capacity. Leeward is actively developing new wind, solar, and energy storage projects in energy markets across the U.S., with 17 gigawatts under development spanning over 100 projects. Leeward is a portfolio company of OMERS Infrastructure, an investment arm of OMERS, one of Canada’s largest defined benefit pension plans with C$105 billion in net assets (as at December 31, 2020). For more information, visit www.leewardenergy.com.

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