Dive Brief:
- A 247-MW solar project in Panoche Valley, California, has gotten a major boost by landing a 20-year contract with Southern California Edison (SCE).
- Meanwhile, Duke Energy has backed out as a major investor in the project, leaving PV2 Energy as the facility's lone backer.
- The $600 million project still faces opposition from environmental groups and the generation contract must be approved by state regulators.
Dive Insight:
It remains unclear when and why Duke Energy backed out of the project. Duke will not discuss its reasons, the San Jose Mercury News reported, though it did speak with PV2 President John Pimentel.
"Their corporate strategy evolves and changes all the time," Pimentel told the newspaper. "The California market has changed a lot in the last couple of years. Prices have become extremely competitive, and Duke has had other corporate strategic issues that have demanded greater focus."
A year ago, Duke and PV2 were partners on the project and the legal owner, Panoche Valley Solar LLC, was operating out of Duke's Charlotte headquarters.
PV2 is already in talks with other potential partners, Pimentel said, and expects to break ground on the project next summer. The project, about two hours south of San Jose, is expected to come online in 2019.
