Beacon Solar Project Explained

Beacon Solar Project
Coordinates:	35.257°N -118.013°W
Country:	United States
Location:	Kern County, California
Status:	O
Construction Began:	2014
Commissioned:	2017
Owner:	Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
Solar Type:	PV
Ps Electrical Capacity:	250 MWac (291 MWac)
Ps Label1:	Power purchase agreement
Ps Data1:	< $0.085 / kWh for 25 years^[1]

The Beacon Solar Project is a photovoltaic power station in the northwestern Mojave Desert, near California City in eastern Kern County, California.^{[2] [3]} Split into five phases, the combined Beacon solar facilities generate 250 MW of renewable energy for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP).^[3] The five phases of the project, fully completed in December 2017, include a total of 903,434 individual solar photovoltaic modules, mounted onto Nextracker single-axis tracking systems.^[4]

The Beacon Solar Project was originally proposed by NextEra Energy using parabolic trough mirrors as solar energy collectors for a solar thermal electric energy generation project. The solar thermal electric powerplant technology configuration raised significant concerns during the CEQA environmental permitting process. ^[5] Among the many environmental concerns, the natural gas supply, the wastewater management and disposal, and the water supply during construction and during operation of the plant were concerns specific to the solar thermal technology. The project was reconfigured, simplified and rescoped to a photovoltaic technology, eliminating the solar thermal technology concerns, though significant other environmental concerns remained.^[6]

LADWP acquired the entire project, including the land and the environmental permitting for the site in 2012 as photovoltaic technology, which gained economic advantages over solar thermal and other technologies as a result of rapidly decreasing costs of solar photovoltaic modules.^[7] LADWP contracted Hecate Energy to develop three phases of the project, for 162 MW, and SunEdison, to develop the other two phases, for 88 MW.^[8] SunEdison's stake in the project was later acquired by Capital Dynamics.^[9] Hecate Energy's stake in the project was acquired by sPower^[10] (Sustainable Power), and was completed by sPower, who was later acquired by AES.

In October 2018, LADWP commissioned the Beacon Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), with 10 MWh/20 MW of storage to stabilize the energy sent to the grid by the solar panels.

Projects

The Beacon Solar Project consists of 5 solar power station projects:

• Beacon 1 — 56 MW_ac (56.5 MW_dc) solar power station using photovoltaics, which began commercial operations in early 2017.^{[11] [12]}
• Beacon 2 — 48 MW_ac (59.6 MW_dc) solar power station using photovoltaics, commissioned in December 2017.^{[13] [14] [15]}
• Beacon 3 — 56 MW_ac (63.0 MW_dc) solar power station using photovoltaics, which began commercial operations in early 2017.^[16]
• Beacon 4 — 50 MW_ac (63.9 MW_dc) solar power station using photovoltaics, which began commercial operations in early 2017.^[17]
• Beacon 5 — 40 MW_ac (48.2 MW_dc) solar power station using photovoltaics, commissioned in December 2017.^{[13] [14]}

Production

Beacon 1 Generation, Annual

Beacon 2 Generation, Annual ^[18]

Beacon 3 Generation

Generation (MW·h) of Beacon 3 ^[19]

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
2016												3,013	3,013
2017	6,373	7,630	12,961	6,373	16,330								49,667
Total													52,680

Generation (MW·h) of Beacon 4 ^[20]

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
2016												4,962	4,962
2017	5,186	6,525	11,301	5,186	14,017								42,215
Total													47,177

Beacon 5 Generation, Annual ^[21]

See also

• Springbok Solar Farm
• Solar power plants in the Mojave Desert
• Solar power in California

Notes and References

1. Web site: Work set to begin on LA’s 250MW Beacon Solar project . Woods . Lucy . PVTech.org . 2014-07-23 . Power purchase agreements (PPA) for the 200MW are for 25 years, capped at US$85 per MWh. .
2. Web site: Draft Environmental Impact Report: Beacon Photovoltaic Project . July 2012 . Kern County Planning and Community Development Department.
3. LADWP Begins Construction on Major Solar Project that Will Deliver 300 MW of Solar Power to Los Angeles . July 25, 2014 . Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
4. Web site: Beacon of Light: A Solar Plant Shines in the Mojave Desert. Tucker. Carol. digital.apogee-mg.com. en-US. 2020-01-23.
5. Web site: State of California, California Energy Commission Docket Log 08-AFC-02.
6. Web site: Letter to California Energy Commission . Gregory . Schneck . Beacon LLC . 13 May 2013.
7. News: L.A. to Break Ground on Big Desert Solar Project . Chris . Clarke . July 22, 2014 . KCET.
8. Web site: Amendment to the Beacon Sites 1, 3, and 4 PPAs . April 27, 2016 . Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
9. Web site: Resolution No. 017-110 . November 15, 2016 . Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
10. Web site: sPower Gets $434M in Financing for Its Beacon Solar Projects. sPower. 10 May 2018.
11. Web site: Beacon 1 . Hecate Energy LLC.
12. https://www.transmissionhub.com/articles/2016/11/spower-lines-up-financing-for-183-mw-of-beacon-solar-projects-in-california.html sPower lines up financing for 183 MW of Beacon Solar projects in California
13. Web site: Beacon Solar Project - Amendment No. 1 to the Power Purchase Agreements, Interconnection Agreements, Ground Lease, and Option Agreements for Power Purchase Agreements . November 22, 2016 . Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
14. Web site: Resolution No. 014-229 . 6 . June 5, 2014 . Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
15. https://solarindustrymag.com/capital-dynamics-sells-majority-stake-of-beacon-solar-portfolio Beacon Solar Portfolio Finds Two New Owners, Solar Industry, Matthew Mercure, December 29, 2020
16. Web site: Beacon 3 . Hecate Energy LLC.
17. Web site: Beacon 4 . Hecate Energy LLC.
18. Web site: Beacon 2, Annual . Electricity Data Browser . Energy Information Administration.
19. Web site: Hecate Energy Beacon 3, Monthly . Electricity Data Browser . . July 30, 2017.
20. Web site: Hecate Energy Beacon 4, Monthly . Electricity Data Browser . . July 30, 2017.
21. Web site: Beacon 5, Annual . Electricity Data Browser . Energy Information Administration.