Pattern Energy Group 2 LP (Pattern Development) has signed 15-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) with California’s Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) and Monterey Bay Community Power (MBCP) to deliver wind power from the 200 MW Duran Mesa Wind project, which is currently under development near Corona, N.M.
SVCE has signed a 15-year PPA for 110 MW, and MBCP has signed a 15-year PPA for 90 MW. Both Community Choice Energy agencies, SVCE serves Santa Clara County, and MBCP serves Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties.
“Silicon Valley Clean Energy is dedicated to the promise we made to our customers when we formed this agency – that we will provide clean, carbon-free power at competitive rates. This project helps us to continue reaching our decarbonization goals,” says Courtenay Corrigan, SVCE’s board chair.
“Through strategic partnerships with other Community Choice Energy agencies like Silicon Valley Clean Energy, Monterey Bay Community Power can leverage additional resources and buying power to develop bigger and more affordable renewable energy projects, which is a landmark achievement for MBCP only being in our first year of service,” notes Bruce McPherson, MBCP’s board chair. “We are strongly committed to a diverse portfolio of energy resources, and this project brings a wide variety of benefits that will be shared by our customers for years to come.”
Construction of Duran Mesa Wind is anticipated to begin in late 2019, and the project is expected to reach commercial operations in late 2020. Duran Mesa Wind is a 200 MW project within Pattern Development’s 2,200 MW Corona Wind Projects in New Mexico. Power from the wind farm will be delivered to California in part via the SunZia Southwest Transmission Project, a 520-mile, 500 kV transmission line under development in New Mexico and Arizona by SouthWestern Power Group. The transmission project is also expected to achieve commercial operations by 2020.
“It’s a very positive sign for our industry that these two important public agencies are making their first long-term wind power purchase agreements – and we’re honored to partner with them in New Mexico,” says Mike Garland, CEO of Pattern Development. “We are making strong progress on our extensive development projects in New Mexico, where the wind resource is one of the strongest in the country and has an evening ramp that creates an ideal complement to California solar power.”
Pattern Development’s 221 MW Grady Wind project in New Mexico is also under construction and will sell power to California customers. The company developed the 345 kV AC Western Interconnect Transmission facility, which connects to Grady Wind and also the company’s 324 MW Broadview Wind project.