by Jbs090108 h3 — September 3, 2008—Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) recently announced it has entered into a long-term agreement with Klondike Wind Power III, a subsidiary of Iberdrola Renewables, to purchase 90 megawatts (MW) of renewable wind energy from the Klondike wind facility in Sherman County, Oregon.
The project will generate approximately 260 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy annually—reportedly equivalent to the amount of energy needed to serve approximately 38,000 residential homes on an annual basis. Deliveries are expected to begin in December 2008. This is the second major wind project that PG&E has signed this year, bringing the utility’s total amount of renewable wind energy under contract or delivered to more than 1,250 MW.
PG&E also announced it has entered into two utility-scale, photovoltaic (PV) solar power contracts for a total of 800 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy. This significant commitment to photovoltaic technology will deliver cumulatively 1.65 billion kilowatt-hours of renewable energy annually, equivalent to the amount of energy needed to serve approximately 239,000 homes each year.
PG&E entered into an agreement with Topaz Solar Farms, a subsidiary of OptiSolar Inc., for 550 MW of thin-film PV solar power. Located in San Luis Obispo County, California, the project the project will deliver approximately 1,100,000 MWh annually of renewable electricity. The project is expected to begin power delivery in 2011 and be fully operational by 2013.
The utility also signed a contract with High Plains Ranch II, a subsidiary of SunPower Corporation, for 250 MW of high-efficiency PV solar power. SunPower’s planned 250 MW solar ranch will be located in San Luis Obispo County’s California Valley and will deliver an average of 550,000 MWh of clean electricity annually. The project is expected to begin power delivery in 2010 and be fully operational in 2012.
