Meet the New, Clean Projects Powering Your Home

Summer break is on – and so is every air conditioner in the valley. As the season heats up, we can’t help but reflect on the past few summers and the improvements we have made as a state on electric supply and planning.

In 2022, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) called several Flex Alerts asking for energy conservation as the state-wide electricity supply struggled to match the spiking demand during extreme heat events across the western US. However, in the last three summers the state has not called any Flex Alert events. So, what changed?

The biggest change is a massive build out of battery energy storage resources that are helping to take abundant solar energy generated during the day, and stretch that clean energy into the evening hours when the grid has the most demand. According to the California Energy Commission, California now has nearly 17,000 megawatts (MWs) of battery storage — one-third of the way to its 2045 goal. There have also been improvements to state-wide coordination and planning for procuring and balancing these resources.

This summer alone, Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) has had three new projects come online to provide clean, reliable energy to the grid.  When SVCE first started entering into long-term renewable contracts (10+ year agreements), most were for new-build renewable projects, instead of existing projects. This is due to the SVCE goal of driving state-wide demand for more clean energy. SVCE has contracts for over 24 new, long-term projects, which means that when those projects begin delivering power, it adds new renewable energy onto the grid, displacing the reliance on fossil fuel power. This summer, SVCE has celebrated the “energization” of three projects – now powering your home or business!

SVCE recently joined California Community Power, five other community choice energy providers, developer REV Renewables and representatives from the CPUC, CAISO and Kern County for a ribbon cutting event of the Tumbleweed Energy Storage project.

This project represents a national milestone as the first major battery installation in the U.S. that can discharge power for up to eight hours at a time. This eight-hour discharge period is twice as long as the current energy storage standard. The batteries charge from the grid during the day when there is excess solar generation and then discharge in the evening when demand peaks, but solar production slows; allowing us to stretch the benefits of renewable electricity into hours of the day when other clean resource generation slows down.

The SunZia wind and transmission line project is another resource now providing clean electricity and catching national headlines. SVCE receives 125 megawatts of renewable capacity from this new wind facility, which marks the largest renewable energy infrastructure project in U.S. history.

Beyond the added clean energy generation produced by the wind turbines, the project also includes a 550-mile high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line, enabling the delivery of that clean power generated in New Mexico to the western grid. This project is a glowing example of how energy providers across states can work together to diversify the kinds of energy sources supplying clean electricity to the grid.

Last but certainly not least, SVCE welcomed 80 MWs of solar generation and 200 megawatt-hours of reliable battery storage (4-hour) from the Aratina project to its power mix. This is another brand-new project located in Kern County, CA that provides renewable solar generation, and reliable battery capacity to SVCE customers.

The clean electricity SVCE receives from the SunZia and Aratina projects will account for approximately 14% of the total SVCE electric load in 2028. These projects, plus many more new renewable energy sources continue to come online, increasing state-wide capacity and creating a more resilient system. This is how SVCE is doing its part to contribute to a clean, reliable grid. Alongside other electricity providers, the state continues to increase grid capacity without sacrificing clean, carbon-free generation.

“With the continued procurement and onboarding of significant new resources, the ISO-managed electric grid is well positioned to meet a wide range of operating conditions during the upcoming summer…Through close coordination with the state’s primary energy agencies and utilities, the ISO has onboarded more than 30 gigawatts (GW) of new resources since 2020. ” – Aditya Jayam Prabhakar, CAISO, Resource Assessment and Planning from the Energy Matters blog.

Each year, the California Independent System Operator issues a Summer Loads and Resources Assessment and despite low snow seasons (potential for less hydropower) and expected extreme heat events (potential peak in electricity demand),

“The analysis indicates that there are sufficient resources to meet a wide range of system conditions in load, solar, wind generation, and generation resource outages.” – CAISO.

Of course, weather conditions are unknown for the summer and California residents are encouraged to sign up to receive Flex Alerts so that in the case of a critical grid event, we can all do our part to be informed and conserve. Interested in learning about the other resources powering your home? Learn more >>