Clearway Begins Full Construction on Massive Solar + Energy Storage Project in Southern California
San Francisco – Clearway Energy Group LLC (“Clearway”) announced the start of full construction today at its Daggett 3 Solar Power + Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project in San Bernardino County, CA. When completed, the entire Daggett project footprint will encompass 482 MW of solar power and a remarkable 394 MW of energy storage capacity, making it the largest solar + battery storage project currently built in California.
“We’re incredibly proud of what Daggett represents for California and our country,” said Craig Cornelius, CEO of Clearway. “When we’re done building it, this project will be providing reliable and affordable clean power at massive scale with some of the best solar resource on the planet. Along the way of building it, we’ll be putting hundreds of people to work with good jobs and making use of existing power infrastructure that will now run clean. The Golden State is home to our headquarters and a great many of our employees. It’s an incredible place, but it’s also fragile – and recent years have shown us how much we need to mitigate man-made emissions so that a place we love will stay the way we love it.”
The Daggett 3 and Daggett 2 project phases are already under contract to five different energy customers, including Clean Power Alliance (CPA), East Bay Community Energy (EBCE), Constellation, MCE, and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E).
“The Daggett project allows Clean Power Alliance to provide clean, reliable electricity to more than three million people throughout Southern California,” said CPA Executive Director, Ted Bardacke. “By repurposing land previously occupied by a fossil fuel plant and using local union labor to construct the project, Daggett is a prime example of the kind of transformative and equitable development we are strongly promoting.”
“Solar plus storage projects in California are a source of low-cost renewable energy that provide power when we need it most,” said Nick Chaset, EBCE CEO. “EBCE is happy to partner with other load-serving entities and Clearway to bring this critical project online to serve our customers, increase the reliability of the electric system, and continue EBCE’s trajectory toward 100% carbon-free electricity by 2030.”
“The Daggett solar plus storage project is helping California solve one of the biggest obstacles to renewable energy,” said Dawn Weisz, MCE CEO. “By helping correct the imbalance between solar oversupply when the sun is shining and undersupply at other times, the batteries reduce the need to rely on California’s gas-powered plants which pollute our air and harm our health – especially in disadvantaged communities. This project is a vital part of the transition to an equitable clean energy future.”
The Daggett project site borders the Coolwater Generating Station, a retired coal and natural gas power plant, that began operations in the late ’70s. When completed the entire Daggett Solar + energy storage project will have created more than 500 union labor construction jobs and will sustain at least a dozen operations, maintenance, and management jobs on site. The project will generate $210 million in local spending during construction and another $5 million on an annual basis. The entire Daggett project footprint will generate a total of $18.5 million in taxes during the life of the project, benefitting local schools, hospitals, and additional public infrastructure.