Boise, Idaho - August 17, 2015 - Clēnera’s EE Kettleman Land solar project is complete and began producing electricity on a commercial basis on August 17, 2015. Located on 744 acres of land in Kettleman City, California, this 26 megawatt project consists of 87,000 modules. 

The electricity being produced on fallow farmland in Kettleman City will power the silicon valley city of Palo Alto, backed by a long-term power purchase agreement. The EE Kettleman Land solar project became Palo Alto’s first utility-scale project to come online, and was expected to produce 53,454 MWh of electricity in its first year. This translates to about 5.5% of the city’s total residential, commercial, and industrial electricity demand, and is enough to power 6,000 homes.  

“With the addition of this large-scale solar power plant to our energy-supply portfolio, Palo Alto is well on its way toward achieving its incredibly ambitious renewable energy and sustainability goals,” said Valerie Fong, the City’s Utilities Director, in a news release. 

In an effort to purchase all of the City of Palo Alto’s electricity from carbon-neutral sources and meet its climate-protection targets, the City had planned to invest in five solar projects. EE Kettleman Land was the first of these five investments that the City was committed to.  Palo Alto expected to generate about a third of the City’s annual electricity needs with these projects, and avoid 260 million pounds of carbon dioxide with the EE Kettleman Land project alone. 

“Palo Alto has a long history of pursuing renewable resources, and our municipal utility is on track to exceed a 50 percent Renewable Portfolio Standard level by 2017,” said Ed Shikada, Assistant City Manager and Interim Utilities Director in a separate news release. 

Developed and operated by Clēnera, this solar project was completed in partnering with Swinerton Renewable Energy, Canadian Solar, Advanced Energy, and Array Technologies, Inc.

About Clēnera

Clenera, LLC (“Clēnera”) is a privately-held renewable energy company headquartered in Boise, Idaho. Clēnera acquires, develops, builds and manages utility-scale solar farms and energy storage facilities throughout the United States. Combining breakthrough technology with a deeply integrated team approach, Clēnera provides reliable, affordable energy systems and helps its utility partners become clean energy leaders in their communities. Clēnera’s current operating portfolio exceeds 1.3 GW, with more than 14 GW of solar and storage assets in development. Learn more at www.clenera.com.

About the City of Palo Alto Utilities 

The City of Palo Alto is the only municipality in California operating a full suite of utility services, including water, wastewater, electric and fiber optics, natural gas, refuse and storm drain services. For more about CPAU’s solar programs, visit www.cityofpaloalto.org/solar.

Media Contact:

Clēnera
208-968-7403
pr@clenera.com

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