The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Aug. 8 accepted San Diego Gas & Electric’s amendment of a Large Generator Interconnection Agreement (LGIA) that covers the reduced size for a planned solar project.
On June 12, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) filed the First Amendment to the LGIA among SDG&E, CSOLAR IV South LLC, CSOLAR IV East LLC, Tenaska Solar Management LLC and the California Independent System Operator. This non-conforming LGIA amendment reflects the continuing rights and obligations of the aforementioned parties, following a reduction in CSOLAR’s project size from 200 MW to 130 MW.
In January, the CSOLAR companies exercised partial termination rights under the LGIA, reducing the project size from 200 MW to 130 MW. That extra 70 MW was supposed to be added in a second phase of the project.
In a further amendment to the LGIA with respect to the interconnection configuration, the deal also provides for the CSOLAR project to interconnect through the new Drew Switchyard, a collector facility located to the southeast of the Imperial Valley Substation. SDG&E’s plan was to effect interconnection of the CSOLAR and other projects during a roughly week-long construction outage commencing on or about July 8, 2013.
Tenaska Imperial Solar Energy Center South has become the Imperial Valley’s first large-scale solar energy facility to deliver power to SDG&E’s Sunrise Powerlink, said Tenaska Solar Ventures in a May 29 announcement. Tenaska Imperial South was the first utility-scale solar project to begin construction in the Imperial Valley. The ground-mounted photovoltaic solar project will produce up to 130 MW, with the power generated from the facility serving SDG&E customers.
Tenaska Solar Ventures (TSV), an affiliate of independent power developer Tenaska, developed the project. In addition to Tenaska Imperial South, TSV has completed permitting for the Tenaska Imperial Solar Energy Center West near El Centro and continues to evaluate additional opportunities in the Imperial Valley. Construction of the Tenaska Imperial Solar Energy Center West is expected to begin in 2013, with commercial operation in 2015. It would produce up to 150 MW under a 25-year power purchase agreement with SDG&E.
