Solar farms continue to sprout throughout western Fresno County. (Shutterstock)
- Clearway Energy Group has closed more than $700 million in financing for two solar energy projects, including Luna Valley in western Fresno County.
- The Luna Valley facility could someday produce enough electricity to power more than 80,000 homes yearly.
- Luna Valley's output has been contracted by San Diego Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and The Power & Water Resources Pooling Authority.
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The role of Fresno County’s westside in solar energy production continues to expand with the addition of Luna Valley Solar, a 200-megawatt project expected to produce enough electricity to power more than 80,000 homes yearly.
The project’s developer, Clearway Energy Group, announced this week that it had closed $700 million in financing for the Luna Valley project and a 113.5 megawatt storage project in San Bernardino County.
Clearway Energy said in a news release that half of Luna Valley’s solar power and battery storage output has been contracted in a 15-year agreement by San Diego Gas & Electric. The remainder of its solar capacity is under 20-year contracts with Southern California Edison and the Power & Water Resources Pooling Authority, Clearway said.
The Power & Water Resources Pooling Authority is comprised of nine irrigation districts in the Central Valley and coastal California.
Its members are the Arvin Edison Water Storage District in Arvin, Banta Carbona Irrigation District in Tracy, James Irrigation District in San Joaquin, Glenn Colusa Irrigation District in Willows, Byron Bethany Irrigation District in Byron, Santa Clara Valley Water District in San Jose, Cawelo Water District in Bakersfield, Sonoma County Water Agency in Santa Rosa, Princeton-Cordora-Glenn Irrigation District/Provident Irrigation District in Willows, and Westlands Water District in Fresno.
Converting from Dry-Farming to Solar
According to Luna Valley’s project description report filed with Fresno County, the 1,300-acre site is owned by Westlands. Most of the site, which is nine miles west-southwest of the city of Tranquility and west of Highway 33, is currently used for dry-farming to grow fodder such as alfalfa for livestock, and a portion of it has been fallowed. It’s adjacent to solar farms along Highway 33 and the Tranquility substation.
The project will include solar arrays, storage batteries, an electrical substation, and electrical interconnection facilities.
Westlands has a stake in solar project development in the region, with the Westlands Solar Park nearby in Kings County and a proposed 20,000-megawatt solar power project called the Valley Clean Infrastructure Plan under development.
Related Story: Inside Look at Fresno County Westside Solar Plan to Power 9 Million Homes
Clearway said the Luna Valley Solar and Daggett Storage, a 113.5-megawatt battery energy storage facility that’s the final phase of the 482-megawatt Daggett Solar + Storage project, are expected to be in commercial operation by 2025.
Clearway has put more than 2,300 megawatts of solar plus storage projects in construction and operation in California in the past five years. The company owns and operates 10,000 megawatts of renewable and conventional energy assets nationwide. Its 8,000 megawatts of operating wind, solar, and energy storage assets offset the equivalent of more than 10.5 million metric tons of carbon emissions, the company said.
Related Story: Inside Look at Fresno County Westside Solar Plan to Power 9 Million Homes
Luna Valley Project Location
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