300 MW Beltran Solar PV Project In California Secures Grid Connection Agreement
The 300 megawatt (MW) Beltran solar photovoltaic (PV) power project currently under development in Stanislaus County, California, is now one step closer to completion — following reports that the developer Centauri Energy has secured a grid connection agreement for the project.
The project — which is currently set to be completed in 3 phases — is now expected to begin delivering electricity to the grid in 2016 or 2017, following the provision of a grid connection queue position via the California Independent System Operation (CAISO).
The CEO and president of Centauri Energy, Jeff Irvine, commented on the recent news: “Beltran Solar has been in development for more than 5 years. The permits have been issued, the environmental impact studies are finished and now the CAISO application is approved. These are some of the biggest hurdles for a large-scale project like this. With all of these complete, we’re ready to develop.”
Once completed, the 300 MW solar energy project will represent just the latest in a number of large solar projects that have come online in the highly populous (and sunny) Pacific state in recent years.
Cumulative solar PV capacity in California now stands at 10.6 gigawatts (GW) — considerably higher than the total back in 2014, which was 3.5 GW — according to a recent report from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and GTM Research.
That impressive rate of growth is down, at least partly, to recent supportive governmental policies in the state, according to most analysts. That said, solar growth is in general occurring fairly rapidly in many regions now, regardless of supportive policies.
Image Credit: California Flag via Flickr CC
Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Latest CleanTechnica TV Video
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.