BARSTOW, Calif. -- City and base officials marked the groundbreaking of a solar farm, here, May 15, that is expected to provide nearly 25 percent of Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow’s electrical needs as well as save the base nearly $3.9 million in the next 20 years.
The project also marked the first power purchase agreement in the Marine Corps, which will help MCLB Barstow become a more self-sufficient installation.
The project is made of two sites that contain approximately 4,500 photovoltaic solar panels that are expected to produce nearly one megawatt of electricity which is enough to power roughly 150 homes.
“This is an incredible solar power asset,” explained Al Bucknam, CEO, Sundurance Energy. “It has been a challenge to meet the needs of the base as well as complying with the standards, but we need to make it work. We cannot just think about the consequences we have on our environment, because whose shoulders do we put the burden of fixing renewable energy on if not our own,” he concluded.
The large amount of electricity that will be generated from the solar panels, will cut down on the amount of electricity that is needed to be purchased from Southern California Edison and will also comply with the Department of Defense’s policy to reduce cost of energy and increase independent energy efficiency.
The purpose of the power purchase agreement is so that the solar farm is built at no cost to the Marine Corps or the base. The project is funded by Sundurance Energy, the same company who will construct the solar panels. The PPA is a 20-year agreement in which the base will purchase the electricity produced by the solar panels at a much lower cost than they would purchase, if they were to buy it directly from the state of California.
“Generating more electricity on site means the base can avoid purchasing electricity from Southern California Edison at higher prices,” said Julien Trinh, project manager. “Our goal is to help the military in any way we can, and this is a very large step in the right direction.”
Along with producing power, the solar farm will also reduce nearly 18,000 tons of carbon dioxide that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere. The amount of carbon dioxide that the solar farm is reducing is equivalent to as taking more than 200 cars off of the I-15.
Construction of the solar farm is expected to begin in early June and to be completed by the end of August. The speed of the project is largely due to many of the components being pre-built and only requires minor adjustments. The two slated sites are to be a 10-acre site on the Nebo Annex, across from the Youth Activity Center, and a 20-acre site on the Yermo annex of MCLB Barstow.
The National Defense Authorization Act of 2007 mandates that the Department of Defense receive 25 percent of its total electricity from renewable sources by 2025. By adding the solar farm to the already in place wind turbine, Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow will be well in compliance with this mandate by the end of summer.