NRG Energy awarded multiple contracts with Southern California Edison (SCE). The contract involves a future integration of renewables into the grid, energy efficiency products and to develop a 2MWh battery storage system. The contracts show SCE’s commitment to transform California’s energy future.
Under terms of the contract, NRG Energy will enter into a 20-year PPA with SCE to repower NRG’s Mandalay facility in Oxnard with 262MW of newer, more flexible and efficient natural gas generation. 178MW of “Preferred Resources” will be installed across Southern California to deploy energy efficiency products. In addition, NRG Energy will develop a two MWh battery storage system.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to advance the forward-thinking efforts of the State of California and Southern California Edison to make a significantly more sustainable and reliable electricity grid,” said John Chillemi, President of NRG Energy’s West Region. “I am proud that NRG can be an important part of this transformation and help meet California’s growing demand for cleaner power and Preferred Resources.”
The repowering of Mandalay is designed to ensure continued reliability and to help integrate renewables into the grid and will also involve the removal the two large steam units at the site, enhancing the coastal viewshed. The repowered Mandalay units are expected to come online in 2020.
The Mandalay repowering project complements NRG’s 600 MW Carlsbad Energy Center, in which NRG will remove the five steam units at its existing site in Carlsbad, California and replace them with smaller, flexible, fast start peaking units. The Carlsbad Energy Center is expected to help integrate renewables into the grid, eliminate once-through cooling, and result in a significantly reduced environmental and visual profile. The Carlsbad Energy Center is expected to come online in late 2017, and is awaiting CPUC approval of a 20 year PPA with SDG&E.
Ongoing Commitment to California
These contracts follow a string of successful projects that have helped bring more renewable power to California through solar and wind generation backed up by new flexible gas generation. NRG, individually or through its subsidiary NRG Yield, owns the 720 MW Marsh Landing, 550 MW El Segundo and 500 MW Walnut Creek power plants that all have fast start capabilities, allowing them to come online quickly when renewable power decreases. In addition, NRG Yield owns the nation’s largest wind farm, located in California. Through both NRG and NRG Yield, the companies provide more than a thousand megawatts of solar to the state from numerous large and small solar arrays, including the world’s largest concentrated solar thermal project.
NRG has transformed Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara into a solar generator that can power a season of NFL home games. The company also operates the eVgo network which has completed installation on more than 85 DC fast chargers to support California’s 100,000 electric vehicles and is retrofitting eVgo electric vehicle charging sites to be compatible with the new DC fast charger standard being used by the BMW i3, Chevrolet Spark and Volkswagen eGolf. DC fast chargers can charge most electric vehicles to 80% of full charge in 30 minutes or less.
“This is an important opportunity to help realize the aggressive environmental goals of California,” added Chillemi. “We look forward to working with the many stakeholders across the state to make this transformation a reality.”