Clean Power Alliance (CPA), the single largest provider of 100% renewable energy plans to customers in the United States, has announced the approval of a 15-year contract with Ormat Technologies Inc.'s Heber South Geothermal facility located in Imperial Valley, CA.
During its May 6 meeting the CPA Board of Directors approved the Heber South contract, which will contribute to CPA's greenhouse gas emission reduction goals and enhance overall reliability for CPA's more than one million southern California customer accounts. Once the long-term contract takes effect January 1, 2022, the facility will add 14 Megawatts of renewable energy to CPA's already diverse energy portfolio, enough to power 19,400 homes for a year or one percent of CPA's overall demand. With an expected average annual generation of 116,508 MWh, the project will also allow CPA to further comply with the state of California's aggressive renewable energy mandates.
"This marks the thirteenth long-term renewable energy contract our Board of Directors has approved since our inception, with Heber South being the first geothermal contract to be added to this list," said Ted Bardacke, Executive Director for Clean Power Alliance. "These long-term contracts will account for more than a third of our overall load once they come online and we are excited to be building a cost-effective and diverse portfolio of solar, wind, geothermal and energy storage resources to serve our customers."
Geothermal power is power generated by geothermal energy. Geothermal power plants use hydrothermal resources that have both water (hydro) and heat (thermal). The hot water or steam powers a turbine that then generates electricity.
CPA will pay for the output of the geothermal generation of the project at a fixed-price rate per MWh for the full-term of the 15-year contract. Under the contract, CPA will receive all product attributes from the facility, including energy and renewable energy credits (RECs).
In addition, the contract brings CPA closer to meeting its regulatory obligations under SB 100 and SB 350, which require that 65% of Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) compliance related renewable energy supply be sourced from long-term contracts beginning in the 2021-2024 compliance period.
The Heber South project is located within a Disadvantage Community (DAC), providing workforce opportunities and community benefits to the region. The project will support 10 permanent jobs due to the project's ongoing operation via this long-term contract with CPA.
"This agreement establishes a mutually productive relationship with CPA, a recognized leader in the renewable sector, and gives Ormat additional security through a longer-term PPA than our prior agreement," said Doron Blachar, CEO of Ormat Technologies Inc. "We are hopeful that the contract with CPA will be the first of many such contracts. CPA is purchasing renewable electricity on behalf of its members to meet their emission reduction goals and to enhance overall reliability, and we are excited to advance that effort by providing clean, renewable, baseload energy from our geothermal facilities."
The Heber South project has a firm transmission agreement with the Imperial Irrigation District to deliver power to the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) at the Coachella Valley substation.
About Clean Power Alliance
Founded in 2017, Clean Power Alliance is the locally operated electricity provider for 30 cities across Los Angeles County and Ventura County as well as the unincorporated areas of both counties. CPA is the fifth largest electricity provider in California and the single largest provider of 100% renewable energy to customers in the nation. CPA serves approximately three million customers via one million customer accounts, providing clean renewable energy at competitive rates. For more information visit cleanpoweralliance.org.
About Ormat Technologies Inc.
With over five decades of experience, Ormat Technologies, Inc. is a leading geothermal company and the only vertically integrated company engaged in geothermal and recovered energy generation ("REG"), with robust plans to accelerate long-term growth in the energy storage market and to establish a leading position in the U.S. energy storage market. The Company owns, operates, designs, manufactures and sells geothermal and REG power plants primarily based on the Ormat Energy Converter - a power generation unit that converts low-, medium- and high-temperature heat into electricity. The Company has engineered, manufactured, and constructed power plants, which it currently owns or has installed for utilities and developers worldwide, totaling approximately 3,200 MW of gross capacity. Ormat leveraged its core capabilities in the geothermal and REG industries and its global presence to expand the Company's activity into energy storage services, solar Photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage plus Solar PV. Ormat's current 932 MW of geothermal and Solar generating portfolio is spread globally in the U.S., Kenya, Guatemala, Indonesia, Honduras, and Guadeloupe and its 83 MW energy storage portfolio is located in the U.S.
