MWhs
kW DC
ColGreen North Shore Solar Power Plant
System Owner Sunpin Solar
Utility Imperial Irrigation District
Energy Offtaker Direct Energy
ColGreen North Shore Goes Solar
Located within the Imperial Irrigation District (IID) Utility territory, the ColGreen North Shore Solar Project comprises almost 500 acres with a 35-year lease. The facility interconnects to IID’s 92kV substation transmission line passing through the site, delivered into California ISO (CAISO) territory. The substation was specially designed and built through Sunpin Solar for the project. The single axis tracking solar system produces over 210,000 MWh annually, which can power over 22,300 home annually.
Innovative PPA Helps Reduce Energy Costs for Investors and Customers
The ColGreen North Shore Solar Project entered into an innovative index structured PPA where the energy offtaker purchases the energy at a wholesale rate and SRECs at a fixed price. This structure serves the needs of both power buyer and the project investor :
- The fixed-price SREC contract provides the project investor with enough stable revenue from operation
- The index structure allows the energy offtaker to purchase SRECs without committing to a fixed price for energy.
Meeting Renewable Energy and Community Development Requirements
The ColGreen North Shore Solar Project’s 96,750 kW capacity not only reduces energy costs, but it also helps meet community and sustainability goals:
- When customers purchase the project’s clean electricity they demonstrate a commitment to renewable energy and sustainability – this facility displaces the CO2 equivalent of over 100,000 acres of trees planted and will offset GHG emission from over 32,000 vehicles driven each year!
- Local community benefits include 425 jobs created during peak construction.
The Colgreen Northshore Project is a 96.7 MWdc installation with the capacity to power as many as 22,300 homes annually. Though the project is currently operating successfully and positively impacting communities and the environment, it was once considered an impossible mission due to many obstacles and setbacks.
Before acquiring the sunny 485-acre land in the Coachella Valley, Sunpin Solar was met with a handful of complexities. The project was facing several deadlines and the previous project owner was unable to conclude on the interconnection agreement or obtain construction financing. The owner had ceased a majority of the developmental efforts of the site.
Find out how Sunpin Solar took ambitious and creative measures to mitigate these issues and successfully developed this abandoned project: