Solar Power and the Future Bryan Whitcomb General Manager, Solar Star Project October 18, 2016 Topics Covered • Berkshire Hathaway Energy (BHE) introduction • Solar Technologies – Photovoltaic (PV) and Concentrated PV – Concentrated – Emerging technologies • Solar Star – Large utility-scale solar PV project • Energy Trends • Solar energy trends 2 Berkshire Hathaway Energy • 11.5 million customers worldwide • 21,000 employees worldwide • $85.0 billion in assets • $18.1 billion in revenue • 32,600 miles of transmission lines • 16,400 miles of natural gas pipeline • More than 33,000 MW owned/contracted generation capacity • 34% renewable or noncarbon • Largest regulated owner of wind (5500 MW) in US BHE Renewables Unregulated Independent Power Producer (IPP) Geothermal Wind Solar Hydro Imperial Valley Projects: 338 MW Bishop Hill II: 81 MW Agua Caliente: 290 MW Wailuku: 10 MW Pinyon Pines: 300 MW Topaz Solar Farms: 550 MW Philippines: 128 MW Jumbo Road: 300 MW Solar Star: 586 MW Grande Prairie: 400 MW Marshall: 72 MW 338 MW geothermal 1,153 MW wind 1,278 MW solar 138 MW hydro 4 Solar Technology – Photovoltaic 5 Solar Technology – Concentrated Photovoltaic 6 Solar PV Plant Overview Power Conversion Station (PCS) – each PCS has 2 inverters and 1 transformer Common electrical hardware for all electrical energy technologies 7 Concentrated Solar Power 8 Concentrated Solar Power 9 Concentrated Solar – Ivanpah (Primm, NV) 10 Emerging Solar Technologies • Concentrator PV • Floatovoltaics • Energy Storage – Electrochemical (batteries) – Mechanical (compressed gases, pumped water storage) – Thermal (molten salt – 1474 F) – Chemical (hydrogen fuel cells) • Energy storage will be a key issue in the future – Reduced base load capacity – Increased intermittent renewable sources – Duck curve! 11 Solar Star Project • 586 megawatt solar photovoltaic project • Spans 3,200 acres in Kern County and Los Angeles County, California • Utilizes approximately 1.7m SunPower E20 435-watt monocrystalline silicon modules mounted on single axis tracking technology • Estimated to displace 570,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually • Equivalent of 108,000 cars off the road annually • Potential to power approximately 255,000 average California households 12 Solar Star Project Site SS2A Solar Star 3 SS2B SS1A Solar Star 1 Solar Star 2 Substation Generation Tie-Line 13 Solar Star Aerial View SCE Whirlwind Substation Kern County Los Angeles County Solar Star 1 Solar Star 2 14 Solar Star Major Project Milestones • December 2012 BHE Renewables purchased • January 2013 Construction begins • October 2013 Synchronized with grid • December 2013 57 MW in-service • April 2014 170 MW in-service • November 2014 465 MW in-service • December 2014 354 MW in-service (goal) • June 2015 586 MW in-service • June 2015 505 MW in-service (goal) • July 1, 2015 Achieved commercial Operations • October 2015 Guaranteed substantial completion date 15 Solar Star Facts • Technology: SunPower Oasis® Single Axis Trackers • Land use: approximately 3,200 acres • No. of panel: 1.7 million • 435 watts per panel • Capacity: 586 MW ac • 749 MW dc Panels placed end-to-end would reach the Atlantic ocean (2,203 miles)! 16 Revegetation 17 Revegetation 18 Revegetation Results 19 Revegetation Results 20 Vegetation Management 21 US Energy Revolution • U.S. energy revolution – Largest combined producer of oil and gas in the world – Oil imports lowest in more than 40 years • Changes in fuel mix for electricity – 2016: – Wind (+ 10,000 MW), solar (+16,000 MW), gas (+4,000 MW) – Coal retiring ~ 13,000 MW • Aging fleet; average age is 44 years old • Stringent EPA rules 22 More Renewable Energy – Why? • Hedge against natural gas prices • Customers want it • Long-term assurance of stable prices (PPAs) • Economic development • Price – near grid parity • Proven technologies that can address state and federal environmental policies (California’s SB 350, Clean Power Plan) 23 Evolving Electrical Generation 24 Renewable Generation 25 Solar Energy Trends 26 Declining Cost of Solar 27 Declining Cost of Solar Source: http://cleantechnica.com/2014/09/04/solar-panel-cost-trends-10-charts/ 28 Solar Energy Trends – Duck Curve 29 Questions? 30.