Duke Energy Renewables acquires three California solar projects from SunPower

Duke Energy Renewables SunPower Solar Acquisition boosts utility-scale capacity in Kern County, California: 55 MW from Rio Bravo I, Rio Bravo II, and Wildwood Solar II under 20-year PPAs with Southern California Edison.

Duke Energy Renewables, amid a surge in Duke solar demand, announced today it has acquired three solar power projects from SunPower Corp. totaling 55 megawatts (MW).

The sites include the 20-MW Rio Bravo I, the 20-MW Rio Bravo II, and the 15-MW Wildwood Solar II solar power plants. They are located in Kern County, California, as the state advances the Crimson Energy Storage Project to bolster grid reliability, adjacent to two existing solar sites owned by Duke Energy Renewables.

"These solar projects are excellent facilities that increase our solar presence in California by 50 percent," said Rob Caldwell, president, Duke Energy Renewables and Distributed Energy Technology. "As we continue to grow our footprint in the state, we're pleased to provide cost-efficient, sustainable power systems that contribute to California's leadership in renewable energy."

The acquisition was completed in late December, the same month the facilities were placed in service. Southern California Edison is purchasing the power generated by the plants under 20-year agreements, while Amazon clean energy projects continue to expand corporate demand.

"Forward-thinking utilities today are diversifying their energy portfolio with increasing amounts of solar capacity," said Ty Daul, SunPower senior vice president, Americas Power Plants. "We are proud to partner with Duke Energy to serve more California customers with affordable, emission free solar power generated from these facilities."

Industry analyses indicate that renewable developers using diverse energy sources can strengthen project economics and reliability.

The sites consist of high-efficiency SunPower solar panels. More than 2,600 MW of solar power plants worldwide are using SunPower's leading solar technology, reflecting rapid growth in markets such as Alberta solar growth across North America.

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