EDF Renewables puts Desert Quartzite solar-plus-storage project into action in California, US

February 6, 2025
LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email

EDF Renewables North America has begun operations on a 375MW/600MWh solar-plus-storage project in California, US.

The company announced last week (31st January) that the Desert Quartzite project in Riverside County, California, began operations in December 2024. EDF Renewables – a regional subsidiary of French energy giant EDF – did not specify the suppliers of the solar or storage elements of the project. The battery energy storage system (BESS) is a 4-hour, 150MW installation.

Solar projects in California are increasingly paired with energy storage to adapt to the state’s grid and energy mix. The “duck curve” – where solar generation peaks in the day and pushes power prices to near or below zero before it drops off when demand spikes in the evening – has made energy storage essential to balancing supply and demand across California.

A number of major project developers including EDP Renewables and Arevon have invested vast amounts in large-scale solar-plus-storage projects across California, to the extent that EDP Renewables North America CEO, Sandhya Ganapathy, told PV Tech that the “low hanging fruit” for solar developers was gone across major US markets. She said that companies would need to innovate, either in technology or geography, to be competitive.  

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

Not ready to commit yet?
  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

Desert Quartzite was built on Federal Land managed by the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which is part of the Department of the Interior (DOI). The BLM manages millions of acres of land, largely across the western US, much of which it has proposed for renewable energy development.

To read the full version of this story, visit PV Tech.

Read Next

October 17, 2025
Utility and power firm Naturgy has started building its first BESS projects in Spain, at four solar PV plants in Almeria and the Canary Islands.
October 17, 2025
The New South Wales Independent Planning Commission has approved Ark Energy’s 3,148MWh Richmond Valley solar-plus-storage project in Australia.
Premium
October 16, 2025
Utility-scale developer SB Energy has received a US$25 million grant from the California Energy Commission (CEC) to purchase BESS units for one of its solar and storage hybrid complexes located in Riverside County, California. 
October 14, 2025
Spanish IPP Grenergy has begun construction on a 340MW solar project with 960MWh of energy storage in El Cabrero, located in Chile’s Biobío region. 
Premium
October 10, 2025
Community-owned public power utility Denton Municipal Electric (DME) has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Jupiter Power covering offtake from one of the developer-operator’s standalone BESS projects destined for Robertson County in Texas. 

Most Popular

Email Newsletter