Goldman Sachs Renewable Power (GSRP) announced on March 15 that the Slate Solar and Energy Storage Project in California has formally entered operation and is supplying power to five organizations. Established 2017, GSRP is a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs Asset Management and one of the largest owners of distributed PV generation assets in the US. The announcement was later picked up and reported in detail by other renewable energy news websites.
Located in California’s Kings County, the Slate Solar and Energy Storage Project has a generation capacity of 390MW and a storage capacity of 140.25MW/561MWh. It is one of the largest PV-plus-storage projects in the state. The project was initiated in 2015 by Recurrent Energy, which is a subsidiary of Canadian Solar. It was later sold to GSRP in January 2021.
The five off-takers are Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), Central Coast Community Energy (3CE), the Power and Water Resources Pooling Authority (PWRPA), Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE), and Stanford University. All five have signed a long-term PPA with GSRP. For PWRPA, the project is essential for maintaining a stable electricity supply for its end users that include typical consumers and agricultural operations. PWRPA told news outlets that because of the seasonal cycle, the overall energy demand of its members fluctuates between 20MW and 120MW. Their overall electricity consumption also fluctuates between 290GWh and 520GWh. Hence, PWRPA has to tap into a diverse range of energy sources in order to address the seasonal disparities. As for Stanford University, it is aiming to source 100% of its electricity from renewables and realize net-zero emissions by 2050.
3CE and SVCE said that procuring electricity from the Slate Solar and Energy Storage Project will attract more customers that want a greater share of renewables in their electricity supply. Tom Habashi, CEO of 3CE, was quoted saying that this “landmark” project will not only “deliver tremendous value” to its 400,000-plus customers but also contribute to the reliability of renewables.
Commenting on the event, Shawn Qu, chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar, said that the Slate Solar and Energy Storage Project will assist California in reaching its renewable energy targets. Qu noted that the project was among the first of its kind in the state (i.e., utility-scale integrated PV and energy storage project). It was made possible by the “forward-thinking leadership” of the customers of the project. Qu also pointed out that Recurrent’s energy storage business is now “on equal footing” with Canadian Solar’s businesses related to PV products and projects.
The Slate Solar and Energy Storage Project will meet the electricity demand of 126,000 homes in California and offset around 369,310 metric tons of CO2 emissions per year. During the peak construction period of the project, 405 workers were hired and 90% of them were locals of Kings County. Local and unionized technicians were also hired. Joe Neves, supervisor of Kings County, said that the project will be a new source of revenue and employment opportunities in addition to being a new source of energy.
GSRP currently possesses 850 projects with more than 2.6GW of PV generation and energy storage across 27 states in the US.