Several news outlets reported July 1 that the Los Angeles Department of Power and Water was ready to approve a deal on the largest and cheapest solar + battery-storage project in the country, possibly in the world, at “revolutionary” prices – estimated at half what a new natural gas plant would have to charge.
The facility is to be developed by 8minute Solar Energy on privately-owned land in the Barren Ridge renewable corridor in Kern County. To be built in two phases, the Eland project is slated to add up to 400 megawatts of solar and 300 megawatts of energy storage, under a 25-year power-purchase agreement with LADWP at a price of US$19.97 per megawatt-hour. The volume would represent approximately 7% of the electricity supply for the City of Los Angeles over the 25 year period.
As of Friday, July 26, final contract signing had not been reported.