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    1. Energy Storage

    Nearly 1-GW Slate Solar-Storage project operational in northern California

    March 21, 2022
    The Goldman Sachs Renewable Power-owned project, which was developed by Canadian Solar-subsidiary Recurrent Energy, will serve northern California-based organizations including Bay Area Rapid Transit, Stanford University and others
    Image credit Goldman Sachs Renewable Power
    Slate Solar 1 623877fba25f9

    Goldman Sachs Renewable Power (GSRP), an affiliate of financial giant Goldman Sachs Asset Management, has announced that its Slate 390 MW solar and 561 MWh storage project in Kings County, California is now in operation.

    The Goldman Sachs Renewable Power-owned project, which was developed by Canadian Solar-subsidiary Recurrent Energy, will serve northern California-based organizations including Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), Central Coast Community Energy (3CE), the Power and Water Resources Pooling Authority (PWRPA), Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) and Stanford University.

    “With the benefit of Slate Solar as a centerpiece of its supply portfolio, BART will maintain a power supply that is 100% greenhouse gas free, while substantially increasing its share of eligible renewable electricity to over 50% of its annual need,” BART Board of Directors member Mark Foley said. “Equally important, the contribution of Slate Solar represents a step forward in the decarbonization of California’s transportation sector, currently the highest emitting segment of the state’s economy.”

    The dispatchable solar-plus-storage power will contribute to each organization’s achievement of their renewable energy procurement goals.

    Goldman Sachs acquired the Slate project from Recurrent Energy in January 2021. Noting the significant demand for solar and energy storage projects in California, GSRP Head Jon Yoder said the firm will continue to invest in projects like Slate to aid the state with its transition to a carbon-free power grid.

    Slate is projected to generate enough low or no-carbon energy to reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 369,310 metric tons annually. The battery storage will enable customers to access carbon-free energy in the evening and ensure grid reliability during times of peak demand.

    California Energy Commission Vice Chair Siva Gunda said, “Congratulations to all the organizations and individuals across both the private sector and public sector that contributed to making this project happen, helping put Kings County at the forefront of California’s clean energy future. Meeting the state’s 100 percent clean electricity goals requires an unprecedented amount of new solar and storage resources to come online and a tremendous amount of collaboration to build the type of solutions at the scale we need.”

    About the Author

    EnergyTech Staff

    Rod Walton is senior editor for EnergyTech.com. He has spent 14 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist.

    Walton 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.

    He can be reached at [email protected]. 

    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.

    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.