Access to Renewable Energy  

One of the Sunrise Powerlink’s principle goals is to bring renewable energy from remote areas where it can be generated most effectively to coastal cities and towns for use by customers.  The 117-mile Sunrise Powerlink will transport vast amounts of renewable energy from the resource-rich Imperial Valley region to residences and businesses in San Diego.  This 500-kilovolt electric “superhighway” will have the capacity to carry up to 1,000 megawatts of clean power, or enough energy for 650,000 homes. 

Eastern San Diego County, northern Mexico and the Imperial Valley have the potential to produce thousands of megawatts of clean solar, geothermal and wind energy.  The Sunrise Powerlink will provide a transmission corridor for these much-needed resources to reach customers in San Diego. 

In addition to facilitating renewable energy development, the Sunrise Powerlink will bolster the local economy and put people to work.  The Sunrise Powerlink will create 400-500 construction jobs in the local community, facilitate thousands of “green” jobs from proposed renewable projects in the Imperial Valley region and inject $1.7 billion directly into the U.S. economy.

SDG&E has signed more than 750 megawatts of renewable energy contracts in the past 12 months that will flow over the Sunrise Powerlink.  Several of these are listed below, along with details about the overall solar, wind and geothermal energy potential of the Imperial Valley region.  When completed in 2012, the Sunrise Powerlink will access these resources and help create cleaner, more environmentally-responsible future for California.

Solar

Abundant sunshine means green energy. And Southern California’s deserts have lots of sun and massive solar energy potential. The Sunrise Powerlink will connect to several large solar farms planned for the Imperial Valley and help turn the sun’s rays into clean, green power.

Tenaska Solar Ventures

Two proposed photovoltaic facilities being developed by Tenaska Solar Ventures in the Imperial Valley will deliver up to 280 megawatts of clean power across the Sunrise Powerlink. These projects will use Soitec solar panels manufactured at a new plant in San Diego, which will create 450 “green” jobs.

LS Power

SDG&E signed two 20-year power-purchase agreements with an LS Power subsidiary to procure up to 175 megawatts of solar energy from the proposed Centinela Solar Energy I and II facilities in the Imperial Valley. Upon completion in 2014, the new Centinela Solar Energy facilities will send up to 175 megawatts of solar power to SDG&E’s service territory across the Sunrise Powerlink. The Centinela Solar Energy facilities will employ photovoltaic technology on a 1,350-acre site near Calexico, Calif., an area that is ideal for producing solar power due to abundant desert sunlight.

Geothermal

How is geothermal energy produced?

Geothermal energy is produced by tapping into naturally occurring "hydrothermal convection" sites where cool water seeps into the Earth’s crust and is heated up by magma deep underground.  When the superheated water is forced to the surface, the steam is captured and used to drive electric generators.

Geothermal energy has a long history in the Imperial Valley and could begin to play an even bigger role in California once the Sunrise Powerlink is completed. Studies have estimated that there is approximately 2,000 megawatts of geothermal potential in the Imperial Valley near the Salton Sea.

Wind

The mountain ridges of Eastern San Diego County and Northern Baja California are an excellent source of wind power.

SDG&E recently signed an agreement with Pattern Wind Energy for 315 megawatts generated at Pattern’s proposed Ocotillo Wind Energy Facility in the Imperial Valley.  This clean wind energy is scheduled to flow over Sunrise Powerlink.

In addition to the energy transported on the Sunrise Powerlink, SDG&E recently signed contracts for up to 156 megawatts of wind from Energia Sierra Juarez in Baja California, which is being developed by Sempra Generation, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy.

The Campo Indian Reservation developed the nation’s first wind farm on tribal lands in 2006. These wind turbines currently generate 50 MW or enough electricity to power nearly 33,000 homes in SDG&E’s service territory.

In June 2009, the Campo Band of Mission Indians of the Kumeyaay Nation, Invenergy and SDG&E jointly announced a plan to begin development work on tribal lands for a wind energy project capable of generating up to 160 megawatts of clean energy, or enough to power 104,000 homes. The additional capacity of the Sunrise Powerlink will help free up the existing Southwest Powerlink to carry this clean energy to San Diego.

SDG&E is also in the early stages of agreements with the Manzanita tribe to develop wind generation on their lands. Several other Eastern San Diego County wind projects are in the development stages.