California-based solar developer Sunpin Solar said that Direct Energy Business, a subsidiary of Centrica PLC, signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for the full output of the recently completed 96.75-MW DC / 74.8-MW AC ColGreen North Shore Power Plant.
Situated on 485 acres of land in the city of Mecca, CA, near the Salton Sea, the project has been operational since January 2019. The ColGreen North Shore Solar Power Plant uses single-axis tracking and is interconnected to the Imperial Irrigation District (IID) Utility grid. It is expected to produce around 210,000 MWh of energy per year.
Direct Energy’s PPA covers the full capacity of the solar project and will serve Direct Energy Business’ retail energy customers in California. This agreement is one of the first instances an energy service provider (ESP) has enabled a project of this size in California, according to the companies.
“Energy Service Providers like Direct Energy Business can enable investments in renewables to help California reach its energy policy goals,” said David Brast, Senior Vice President, North America Power and Gas, Direct Energy Business.
“As California continues to evolve into a competitive energy market, we will work with suppliers like Sunpin Solar to deliver more energy choices for our Direct Access and Community Choice Aggregation customers,” Brast added.
