New York-based D. E. Shaw Renewable Investments and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District have agreed to a power-purchase agreement where SMUD is committing to buy power from a massive 200-megawatt photovoltaic solar farm to be financed and built in eastern Sacramento County by D.E. Shaw.
The Coyote Creek Agrivoltaic Ranch project will be the largest solar array in SMUD’s territory, covering 1,200 acres on a parcel that is over 2,550 acres. It will generate enough electricity to cover 5% of the utility’s electrical load.
Once built, the land will be used for ground-mounted solar generation and sheep grazing. The land is currently used for sheep grazing, said Rusty Sage, project manager with SMUD.
Last year, SMUD set an ambitious goal of getting to zero-carbon power by 2030. This project and others like it are how SMUD plans to reach that goal, which is set 15 years ahead of California’s statewide zero-carbon target of 2045, which is the most advanced in the country.
The project also includes a 400-megawatt-hour battery storage operation on-site. A megawatt is enough electricity to power about 650 homes.
In June last year, SMUD's board of directors authorized district staff to negotiate up to a 30-year power purchase agreement for the project with D.E. Shaw Renewable Investments, a subsidiary of New York investment management firm D.E. Shaw & Co. LP.
D.E. Shaw develops, owns and operates long-term contracted renewable energy assets.
In an email, D.E. Shaw declined to discuss the construction cost of the project.
Sage said the reason for the excess acreage is to maintain existing environmental assets on the property, including wetlands, trees and drainage.
Once built, the site will be operated remotely. It will have a security detail, and a crew of about 10 people who will wash the solar panels one to four times a year, depending on conditions. Because of the scale of the project, washing all the panels will take the crews about 14 days, according to the environmental report for the project.
The environmental document filed with the county states that construction of the array and battery, along with other features, will take about 12 months.
D.E. Shaw said in a news release that construction will create about 400 jobs, and the project should begin operation no later than 2024. Sacramento County is now processing a full environmental document for the project.
D.E. Shaw said this is the largest combined solar and battery storage facility announced so far in Northern California.
"Partnerships are a key component to SMUD reaching our 2030 Zero Carbon goals," said Frankie McDermott, SMUD's chief operating officer, in the news release. "We committed to using every tool in the toolbox, and innovative projects like this that combine solar and battery storage will enable us to provide the region with clean and reliable power as we transition away from natural gas resources."
SMUD and D.E. Shaw worked together over the past several years to build a 160-megawatt solar array on 550 acres of SMUD land at the decommissioned Rancho Seco Nuclear Generating Station.
The Coyote Creek array will be built on either side of Scott Road on vacant rolling prairie land roughly halfway between Folsom and Rancho Murieta.
SMUD is the sixth-largest community-owned electric provider in the country. Its power mix surpassed 50% non-carbon emitting power sourced in 2019.
