San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has signed two long-term contracts to buy 300 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy for its portfolio of emissions-free power. The first deal is a 20-year contract to buy 100 MW from Manzana Wind LLC, a 189 MW wind power facility currently under construction in the Tehachapi region near Rosamond, California. Scheduled to be completed in late 2012, the project will be comprised of 126, 1.5 MW wind turbines spread across 4,600 acres. The savings in CO2 is the equivalent of removing 21,500 cars off California roads.

The second deal is a 25-year agreement to purchase 200 MW of energy from the Mount Signal Solar project in Imperial Valley, Calif. The first 100 MW of energy from the photovoltaic solar energy facility is expected to be on-line by mid-2013, with the project scheduled for completion by the end of 2013. When finished, the electric output will be transported to market along SDG&E’s 117-mile Sunrise Powerlink transmission line currently under construction and slated for completion later this year. The Mount Signal Solar project will deliver clean energy for over 72,000 households in SDG&E’s service area.

Both contracts require approval from the California Public Utilities Commission.

James P. Avery, SDG&E senior vice president of power supply says the contracts “continue the significant momentum SDG&E has built over the past decade in acquiring valuable green energy resources. In 2011, renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and hydroelectric represented more than 20 percent of the power provided to our 1.4 million electric customers. This is a terrific accomplishment given the fact that we had just one percent renewable power in our portfolio 10 years ago and about 12 percent renewables in our power portfolio in 2010. We are well on our way toward meeting the state’s goal and attaining 33 percent of our power from renewable sources in 2020.”

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