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    City of San Jose, Terra-Gen completing 62-MW Solar & Battery Storage project

    Feb. 7, 2022
    The solar farm portion of the Kern County project was built to generate 62 MW at capacity. The battery portion stores that solar power for the times when demand is highest but renewable capacity lower
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    Municipal power utility San Jose Clean Energy is celebrating with developer Terra-Gen as a new utility-scale solar and battery storage combined project both invested in is now delivering electricity in Kern County, California.

    The Kern County Solar and Battery Storage Project was built by Terra-Gen to provide grid reliability, reduce the carbon footprint of electricity delivery and provide zero-carbon solar when demand was highest in the afternoon and evening hours, according to the release.

    The solar farm portion of the Kern County project was built to generate 62 MW at capacity. The battery portion stores that solar power for the times when demand is highest but renewable capacity lower.

    “SJCE’s long-term investment will produce enough clean electricity to power nearly 65,000 homes annually for the next 12 years—the same impact as taking more than 670,000 cars off the road,” said San José Mayor Sam Liccardo. “San José and SJCE continue to lead the fight against climate change by putting steel in the ground to improve our grid reliability.” Terra-Gen built more than 115 MW of new solar energy and new battery storage overall to meet the fixed delivery obligation in its 12-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with SJCE. SJCE contracted with Terra-Gen for a long-term PPA in April 2020, and the project came online on schedule and was built with union labor.

    California is home to nearly a third of the nation’s total energy storage capacity. The total U.S. utility-scale battery capacity is estimated at more than 1,800 MW as of 2021 but may be nine times that by 2025, according to projections.

    About the Author

    Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor | Senior Editor

    For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].

    Rod Walton has spent 15 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

    He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.

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