Panoche Valley Solar Farm is a 130

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units, International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), ...

(MW), utility-scale solar

photovoltaic power station A photovoltaic power station, also known as a solar park, solar farm, or solar power plant, is a large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power system (PV system) designed for the supply of merchant power. They are different from most building- ...

in the

Panoche Valley Panoche Valley is a grassland valley lying between the Diablo Range and the San Joaquin Valley, in San Benito County, California. The valley is bound on the north by Panoche Hills, on the east by Tumey Hills, on the south by the Griswold Hills an ...

Central California Central California is generally thought of as the middle third of the state, north of Southern California, which includes Los Angeles, and south of Northern California, which includes San Francisco. It includes the northern portion of the San J ...

San Benito County San Benito County (; ''San Benito'', Spanish for "St. Benedict"), officially the County of San Benito, is a county located in the Coast Range Mountains of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 64,209. The coun ...

. Panoche Valley is crossed by a 230-

kilovolt The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827). Defini ...

(kV) power line from the

Moss Landing Power Plant The Moss Landing Power Plant is a natural gas powered electricity generation plant located in Moss Landing, California, United States, at the midpoint of Monterey Bay. Its large stacks are landmarks, visible throughout the Monterey Bay Area. T ...

. Originally proposed by Solargen Energy (later known as Nevo Energy), the project was purchased by PV2 Energy in April 2011, with Nevo Energy retaining a small equity interest, but no voting, governance or management input. In April 2012, PV2 Energy entered into a joint venture with

Duke Energy Duke Energy Corporation is an American electric power and natural gas holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Overview Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Duke Energy owns 58,200 megawatts of base-load and peak generation in ...

, the largest utility in the United States. The project was eventually acquired by

Con Edison Consolidated Edison, Inc., commonly known as Con Edison (stylized as conEdison) or ConEd, is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the United States, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues as of 2017, and over $62 b ...

in 2016. The project site consists of of private land in the northern portion of the valley. It is used for pasture-based livestock grazing on native grassland habitat. In October 2010, the San Benito County Board of Supervisors approved the company’s environmental impact report. Originally proposed at 399 MW, the cost was estimated at approximately $1 billion. The project faced lawsuits from three environmental groups who charged that project would harm native species such as the

giant kangaroo rat The giant kangaroo rat (''Dipodomys ingens'') is an endangered species of heteromyid rodent endemic to California. Description The giant kangaroo rat, is the largest of over 20 species of kangaroo rats, which are small members of the rodent f ...

blunt-nosed leopard lizard ''Gambelia sila'', commonly known as the blunt-nosed leopard lizard, is a species of lizard in the Family (biology), family Crotaphytidae. The species is Endemism, endemic to southern California. Taxonomy ''Gambelia sila'' was originally describ ...

San Joaquin kit fox The endangered San Joaquin kit fox (''Vulpes macrotis mutica'') was formerly very common in the San Joaquin Valley and through much of Central California. Its 1990 population was estimated to be 7,000. This subspecies is still endangered, after n ...

, and various bird species. The project was downsized to 247 MW and eventually 130 MW in 2017 after a settlement was reached. The plant started producing power in January 2018.

RWE RWE AG is a German multinational energy company headquartered in Essen. It generates and trades electricity in Asia-Pacific, Europe and the United States. The company is Europe's most climate threatening Company, the world's number two in offsh ...

acquired Con Edison's clean energy business in 2023.https://www.utilitydive.com/news/rwe-con-edison-sale-clean-energy-businesses/643974/

Electricity production

References

External links

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PV2 Energy
{{Solar power in the United States Buildings and structures in San Benito County, California Diablo Range Solar power stations in California

Electricity production

See also

References

External links