Desert Sunlight Solar Farm
Project details
Project construction took place in two phases, both of which are supported by power purchase agreements.
Phase I has a capacity of 300 MW, which will be sold to Pacific Gas & Electric Company. Phase II has a capacity of 250 MW, which will be sold to Southern California Edison. The project was expected to involve more than 550 construction jobs in Riverside County, California. The project was built on over 6 square miles (16 km) of creosote bush-dominated desert habitat near Desert Center next to Joshua Tree National Park. Construction began in September 2011 and final completion was in January 2015.
The $1.46 billion in loans for the project are partially guaranteed by DOE and will be funded by a group of investors led by Goldman Sachs Lending Partners, which submitted the project under the Financial Institution Partnership Program (FIPP), and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. as co-lead arranger.
A 230 MW and 920 MWh (4-hour) battery storage power station was added in 2022.
Electricity production
Year | Total Annual MW·h |
---|---|
2013 | 104,301 |
2014 | 1,020,905 |
2015 | 1,286,763 |
2016 | 1,346,282 |
2017 | 1,321,129 |
2018 | 1,344,841 |
Average (2015–2018) | 1,324,754 |
Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | 12,877 | 15,657 | 28,534 | ||||||||||
2014 | 21,773 | 27,207 | 34,901 | 41,461 | 39,400 | 43,829 | 51,572 | 39,497 | 46,360 | 46,364 | 46,793 | 34,333 | 473,490 |
2015 | 40,399 | 47,894 | 56,371 | 59,569 | 60,775 | 57,715 | 58,348 | 58,787 | 39,097 | 47,562 | 45,791 | 41,633 | 613,941 |
2016 | 39,151 | 50,933 | 55,135 | 54,198 | 63,118 | 59,008 | 61,051 | 57,526 | 53,062 | 50,947 | 43,476 | 36,137 | 623,742 |
2017 | 25,225 | 28,175 | 52,539 | 55,354 | 69,598 | 75,424 | 68,750 | 63,536 | 59,329 | 54,655 | 33,586 | 32,031 | 618,201 |
2018 | 28,722 | 40,501 | 46,310 | 57,894 | 69,784 | 75,188 | 64,990 | 65,442 | 61,950 | 48,809 | 33,573 | 26,709 | 619,921 |
Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | 10,015 | 32,709 | 33,043 | 75,767 | |||||||||
2014 | 32,312 | 34,615 | 44,998 | 45,876 | 43,733 | 47,205 | 45,698 | 44,642 | 66,531 | 51,571 | 52,960 | 37,274 | 547,415 |
2015 | 45,802 | 52,966 | 60,742 | 64,541 | 61,367 | 63,147 | 63,620 | 63,517 | 44,398 | 53,467 | 51,543 | 47,712 | 672,822 |
2016 | 44,903 | 58,492 | 61,875 | 60,223 | 74,220 | 70,241 | 72,661 | 67,907 | 61,623 | 58,041 | 50,542 | 41,812 | 722,540 |
2017 | 28,682 | 32,036 | 59,740 | 62,940 | 79,137 | 85,761 | 78,172 | 72,243 | 67,460 | 62,146 | 38,189 | 36,421 | 702,928 |
2018 | 33,645 | 47,361 | 54,154 | 67,699 | 81,604 | 87,922 | 75,998 | 76,527 | 72,443 | 57,076 | 39,259 | 31,232 | 724,920 |
Environmental issues
In 2012 the National Parks Conservation Association issued a report identifying three desert solar power plants sited within five miles of National Parks in the California Desert as projects that they suggest should not have been approved in their locations, including the Desert Sunlight Solar Farm. The NPCA report cites damage and impact to visual resources, and impacts on critical desert species.