After a competitive solicitation, Southwest Public Power Agency Inc. (SPPA), has signed a power purchase arrangement (PPA), with a BrightNight joint-venture (JV), for the delivery 300 MW of solar power and 600 MWh battery storage power. This is the largest renewable power purchase in SPPA’s operational history and will supply 21 of SPPA’s constituent members.
Power will be supplied from BrightNight’s Box Canyon project located in Pinal County, Ariz., held jointly with BrightNight’s JV partner, Cordelio Power. The project is expected to be operational in 2025 after it has completed all its major permitting milestones.
“SPPA is proud to supply its members with safe, reliable and affordable electricity from an industry-leading renewable power project,” says Dennis Delaney, SPPA’s project manager. “BrightNight was able to understand our long-term goals and propose a solution to meet the needs of our members and their customers, while remaining cost-effective.”
BrightNight specializes in utility-scale dispatchable power and leveraged its in-house optimization technology to assess SPPA’s needs and deliver a value-creating solution that goes beyond the technology configuration in the original RFP. BrightNight was part of a joint venture with CordelioPower, which owns and operates renewable power facilities in North America. It is wholly owned and controlled by the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board.
“Our partnership with SPPA is emblematic of our customer-centric approach that delivers solutions that go beyond customer expectations,” states BrightNight CEO Martin Hermann. “We’re excited to deliver reliable, dispatchable, renewable power to SPPA and applaud SPPA for their leadership in providing cost-effective, long-term, clean power to its members and their customers.” The Box Canyon project is expected to provide approximately one-third of SPPA’s peak capacity needs and 19-21% of SPPA’s energy needs.