Developer and IPP Leeward Renewable Energy’s (LRE) 88MW/352MWh Chaparral Springs battery energy storage system (BESS) in Kern County, California, is now fully operational.
The Chaparral Springs BESS is part of a larger LRE facility that includes a 174MW PV solar facility. LRE developed, owns, and operates both projects.
In October 2021, Peninsula Clean Energy and Valley Clean Energy, non-profit electricity suppliers in California, signed two 15-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) with LRE for the project.
In January 2023, LRE completed US$260 million of construction financing for the project, led by Wells Fargo, MUFG and Silicon Valley Bank.
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LRE says it will bring additional projects online in the coming months, adding to its total of 470 MW of energy storage capacity across six operational projects.
LRE has also signed agreements with the National Audubon Society and Kern Audubon Society to contribute US$150,00 toward research and conservation for the Swainson’s Hawk in the Antelope Valley.
The company claims that the project will create 100 local jobs at the peak of construction and generate significant sales and property tax revenue.
Also at the Kern County location is LRE’s Rabbitrush project, a 100MW solar PV plant co-located with a 20MW/50MWh BESS.
Powin Energy supplied the full BESS solution for the project, installing its Stack 230P BESS 1000Vdc solution, released in April of 2021.
LRE was founded in 2003 in Texas, focusing on utility-scale wind projects, of which multiple were acquired from Australian investment firm Babcock & Brown LP.
In 2018, the company was acquired by the infrastructure investment arm of OMERS, OMERS Infrastructure Management, and expanded wind, solar and energy storage development.
LRE signed a 15-year PPA for its first standalone BESS, the 126MW/504MWh Antelope Valley BESS, with utility Southern California Edison in June 2023. The BESS is also located in Kern County, California.
