<\/p>\n
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power\u2019s biggest solar and battery storage plant, the Eland Solar and Storage Center in the Mojave Desert of Kern County on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024 near California City, CA.<\/p>\n
(Brian van der Brug \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the largest project for LADWP when it comes to solar and battery, and that is a huge accomplishment for us because it takes away the fear of doing more of these \u2014 and we need about 10 more of these to hit our goals,\u201d said Janisse Qui\u00f1ones, chief executive officer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The city has committed to 100% clean energy by 2035<\/a>. <\/p>\n With Eland\u2019s power now flowing through its grid, L.A. is nearly two-thirds of the way there: The project has pushed the city\u2019s total supply to 64% clean energy, Qui\u00f1ones said. Other sources of power in L.A.\u2019s portfolio include hydrogen, natural gas, biomass, geothermal, nuclear and coal, which the city aims to decommission by the end of this year.<\/p>\n The $2 billion Eland project was developed by Arizona-based Arevon Energy and will also supply solar electricity to Glendale Water and Power. <\/p>\n While Eland\u2019s sprawling solar panels are eye-catching, it\u2019s the unassuming batteries \u2014 which look like rows of large white shipping containers \u2014 that are the real crux of the project. <\/p>\n Battery energy storage units at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power\u2019s biggest solar and battery storage plant, the Eland Solar and Storage Center in the Mojave Desert of Kern County on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024 near California City, CA.<\/p>\n (Brian van der Brug \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Locating batteries together with solar power or wind allows them to charge up on the clean energy, then feed it back to people\u2019s homes after the sun goes down or the wind stops blowing. At the end of 2023, there were close to 469 such \u201chybrid\u201d clean power plants in the U.S., according to a recent report<\/a> from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. <\/p>\n In California, nearly every new solar project waiting to be connected to the electrical grid included batteries.<\/p>\n All scenarios for effectively addressing climate change call for using storage. <\/p>\n The Eland project is also coming online as the Trump administration is slowing the transition to clean energy with dozens of measures that favor electricity made from coal and natural gas. The president\u2019s so-called Big Beautiful Bill<\/a> ends federal tax credits for wind and solar within the next two years. <\/p>\n But in California and a number of other states where addressing climate change is mandated, the transition is likely to continue.<\/p>\n \u201cI spent 12 years in D.C., and to be home, where this is not a controversy \u2014 there\u2019s no controversy about climate goals and solar and renewables \u2014 it\u2018s an exciting day,\u201d Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told The Times. <\/p>\n Eland \u201crepresents a significant milestone toward reaching our climate goals, and it also just reinforces our stature of leading the country in terms of renewables and moving toward clean energy goals,\u201d Bass said. <\/p>\n Kevin Smith, chief executive officer of Arevon, said solar paired with battery storage is currently the cheapest source of energy \u201cwith or without tax credits,\u201d and the fastest to deliver to market. The Eland project took about two years to complete once the first shovel was in the ground, compared with nuclear or natural gas projects that can take several years longer, he said. <\/p>\n Smith also cited the sudden increase in forecast need for electricity for data centers. \u201cIf we don\u2019t meet that demand, that means the AI future is going to be won by the Chinese, because they\u2019re building more solar in a month than we build in a couple of years.\u201d<\/p>\n Two-thirds of all the renewable energy installed globally in 2024 was in China, which strongly encourages the buildout. <\/p>\n In the U.S. now, such projects must either begin construction by next July or be placed into service by the end of 2027 in order to receive a federal tax credit from.<\/p>\n But much of Eland\u2019s success will depend on DWP, which has committed to a 25-year, $1.5 billion contract for its power, with options to buy the facility outright as soon as year 10, according to company officials.<\/p>\n Eland marks DWP\u2019s first utility-scale integrated solar and battery project. Its two facilities combined \u2014 the first phase opened last year \u2014 will generate 758 megawatts of solar power and store up to 1,200 megawatt-hours of energy, all of which can be dispatched during peak demand in the evening or nighttime.<\/p>\n DWP officials said Eland is the lowest-cost project in their portfolio, with the cost of generation and storage averaging about 4 cents per kilowatt hour. The energy is expected to be neutral or even a cost savings for ratepayers, company officials said.<\/p>\n Workers install solar panels for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power\u2019s biggest solar and battery storage plant, the Eland Solar and Storage Center in the Mojave Desert of Kern County on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024 near California City, CA.<\/p>\n (Brian van der Brug \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n That\u2019s partly because DWP was able to contract for the power prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing supply chain issues, and well before new market uncertainties related to tariffs, according to Qui\u00f1ones. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n