TERRA-GEN: Energy Storage Milestones Key to Building a Sustainable Tomorrow

Terra-Gen was established in August 2007, formed and led throughout by an experienced executive management team which averages over 25 years a head of relevant industry experience. “Our team has contracted or re-contracted over 10,000 MW of power generation facilities and has developed or acquired over $25 billion in assets over their careers,” Terra-Gen presents. “Terra-Gen’s experienced, cohesive and scalable team has a track record of developing successful projects.”

Since acquiring Terra-Gen in 2005, Energy Capital Partners (ECP), a private equity firm focused on investing in North America’s energy infrastructure, has raised in excess of $13 billion in commitments, in turn utilising this capital to build and acquire investment platforms across multiple energy sub-sectors. “Since ECP’s acquisition in late 2015, Terra‐Gen has grown contracted development and operating capacity by over 1,200 MW and is positioned for continued growth,” the company beams.

“Prior to the ECP acquisition, the Terra-Gen team developed, constructed and financed the 1,547 MW Alta Wind Energy Center. Today, Terra-Gen has a 3+ GW wind, solar and battery development pipeline in addition to currently contracted development projects.” At the end of 2020 ECP then closed on a 40% sale of its interest in the company to funds managed by First Sentier Investors (FSI). The global asset manager, based in Australia, manages direct infrastructure investments across multiple sectors and a client base that extends across Asia, Australia, Europe and North America, investing more than US$176 billion on behalf of its clients globally.

CALIFORNIA GRID

In February 2021, FSI entered into an agreement to acquire an additional 10% of Terra-Gen, while ECP launched fundraising for a new vehicle called the Continuation Fund to acquire the remaining interest in Terra-Gen, through a structured secondary transaction. “With the FSI and ECP Continuation Fund transactions, Terra-Gen will now have access to the necessary capital support to fund the company’s ambitious growth program, including solar + storage projects,” Terra-Gen says of the possibilities these associations continue to impart.

Terra-Gen’s solar-plus-storage was the cause of much celebration in February, ensuring delivery for non-profit electricity supplier San Jose Clean Energy (SJCE) in California of carbon-free electricity during evening peak times. The supplier officially inaugurated the Kern Solar and Storage Battery Project, which was brought online by developer Terra-Gen on 31 December 2021.

The electricity generated by the Kern Solar and Battery Storage Project will be delivered to SJCE between 06:00 and 22:00 every day, in order to support grid reliability, reduce reliance on emitting plants and combat peak demand difficulties. The fixed delivery model was established in the 12-year power purchase agreement the companies finalised in April 2020, since which time Terra-Gen has built more than 115 MW of new solar energy and new battery storage to fulfil its terms.

“SJCE is proud to put new renewable energy onto the California grid through this innovative project and to achieve this milestone less than three years since becoming the local electric generation service provider,” said Director of San José’s Community Energy Department, Lori Mitchell. “Our community is at the core of the work that we do, and we’re excited to contribute to healthier air and a more liveable planet for the families of today and of tomorrow.”

As the city’s Community Choice Aggregator (CCA), SJCE provides electricity generation service for about 350,000 homes and businesses. CCAs like SJCE are a driving force in California’s clean energy future, with 21 having collectively signed 162 long-term PPAs for nearly 10,000 MW of new solar, wind, biogas, geothermal, and energy storage. CCAs are also powerful markets for grid reliability solutions like long-duration storage.

“Terra-Gen is pleased to reach commercial operation on schedule and help SJCE take an important step toward its long-term procurement goals,” said Jim Pagano, CEO of Terra-Gen. “We enjoy working with CCAs, who are innovating with us to tackle our state’s climate and reliability challenges.”

LARGEST STORAGE PROJECT

This partnership with SJCE, Terra-Gen clarifies, is in fact just a portion of the massive, era-defining Edwards Sanborn project under construction in California, USA. An integrated solar and battery energy storage development located in Kern County, California, in conjunction with solar leader Mortenson, the 1,118MW of solar capacity and 2,165 MWh of energy storage to be housed at Edwards Sanborn is set to make it the largest single-site solar and storage project in the world upon completion.

“Selecting the right partner to execute a project of this scale coupled with cutting-edge battery experience was paramount for Terra-Gen, and Mortenson was a natural fit,” said Brian Gorda, Terra-Gen’s vice president of Engineering. “Terra-Gen is excited to push the industry to new heights and build a plant that provides energy for all hours of demand.”

Mortenson is a US-based, top-20 builder, developer and engineering services provider serving the commercial, institutional and energy sectors. “Mortenson’s expanding portfolio of integrated services helps its customers move their strategies forward, ensuring their investments result in high-performing assets,” it details. “The result is a turnkey partner, fully invested in the business success of its customers.” Mortenson is one of the top contractors in power with industry-leading experience in wind, solar, transmission and distribution, repowering and battery energy storage. The project is Mortenson’s 78th solar and 11th energy storage undertaking.

The Edwards Sanborn project is located near several operating wind and solar projects on land leased from Edwards Air Force Base as well as on adjacent private land, with Mortenson the full Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contractor on both the solar and energy storage scopes. Site construction commenced in Q1 2021 with completion expected to come in Q4 2022 with the aim to develop a photovoltaic (PV) solar facility and associated infrastructure including service roads, above- and below-ground transmission lines, conversion station, solar arrays, substation, battery storage and more.

“The Edwards Sanborn solar and energy storage project is industry-changing and during this challenging 2020 will redefine the impact these systems will have on our clean energy future,” reported Trent Mostaert, Mortenson’s vice president and general manager of Solar. “We are proud to combine our solar and energy storage design and construction expertise with Terra-Gen’s development capabilities to deliver a world-class energy facility.”

“The truly transformative project ensures electricity reliability through the use of stand-alone and collocated energy storage,” added Pagano, as Edwards Sanborn stands estimated to produce sufficient electricity to power approximately 158,000 households while offsetting some 307,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, at full capacity.