Westlands Solar Park
The Westlands Solar Park is a planned, large-scale solar power project in Kings County south of Fresno, California. It intends to build many photovoltaic power plants with a capacity totaling upwards of 2,000 megawatts (MW),[1][2] larger than the world's largest photovoltaic power plants operating as of 2017. It will be constructed on brownfield land owned by the Westlands Water District that is unusable for agriculture due to excess salt pollution.[3][4]
Westlands Solar Park | |
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Country | United States |
Location | Kings County, California |
Coordinates | 36°10′N 119°56′W |
Status | Operational |
Commission date | June 2016 |
Solar farm | |
Type | Flat-panel PV |
Site area | 21,000 acres (8,500 ha) |
Power generation | |
Nameplate capacity | 2 MW |
External links | |
Website | www |
Initial operation of a 2 MW demonstration project began in 2016, with the power sold to Anaheim Public Utilities.[5] Additional projects of 20 MW and 250 MW are in various stages of planning, as of 2017.[6] The developers plan to have 700 MW online by 2021,[7] with full build-out by 2025.[8] The real estate investment firm CIM Group joined the project in 2014.[9] In 2017, plans for the site were downsized from 2,400 MW to 2,000 MW and 24,000 acres (9,700 ha) to 21,000 acres (8,500 ha).[2] Construction began in 2020.[10]
Phases
Project | Capacity | Status | Commission Date | Power purchase agreements | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Westside Solar WSP PV1 | 2 MW | Operational | August 12, 2016 | Anaheim Public Utilities | [11][5] |
Westside Solar WSP PV2 | 20 MW | In Development | [6] | ||
Westlands Aquamarine | 250 MW | In Development | [6] | ||
Westlands Chestnut | 150 MW | In Development | [12] | ||
Westlands Solar Blue | 250 MW | In Development | [12] | ||
RE Slate | 300 MW | In Development | January 2021 (planned) | SVCE, MBCP | [12] |
RE Slate ESS | 300 MW | In Development | January 2021 (planned) | SVCE, MBCP | [12] |
Electricity production
Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | 3,707 | ||||||||||||
2017 | |||||||||||||
Total |
See also
References
- "Westlands Solar Park". Retrieved July 28, 2017.
- Lindt, John (September 14, 2017). "Westlands Solar Park files notice it will downsize plan". The Hanford Sentinel.
- Woody, Todd (August 10, 2010). "Recycling Land for Green Energy Ideas". The New York Times.
- "Ecologists, growers agree site would work for solar farm". The Associated Press. Portland Press Herald. March 22, 2010.
- "Westside Solar WSP PV1". Anaheim Public Utilities.
- Lindt, John (May 4, 2017). "Kings largest solar farm proposed". The Hanford Sentinel.
- Nidever, Seth (September 29, 2016). "Official: Giant solar proposal poised for growth". The Hanford Sentinel.
- "Renewable Energy". Westlands Water District.
- Nidever, Seth (July 9, 2014). "Kings County solar project gets financial backing". The Hanford Sentinel.
- "Ground broken on 2.7-GW solar complex in California". Renewablesnow.com.
- "Westside Solar Project: Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration". Kings County Community Development Agency. March 2015.
- "Kings County solar projects advance | Sierra2theSea". sierra2thesea.net. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
- "Westside Solar Power PV1, Monthly". Electricity Data Browser. Energy Information Administration. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
- "Annual Generation - Plant Unit". California Energy Commission. Retrieved July 28, 2017.