Massive Westside solar project looks to break ground | John Lindt

Said to be one of the biggest solar and storage projects in the U.S., the Darden Clean Energy project could break ground later this year if the California Energy Commission gives the sprawling project the green light.

The agency could fast track the project removing any delay from local government. The solar farm would be built on 9,500 acres of former ag land in western Fresno County, south of Cantua Creek. The land would be purchased from the Westlands Water District. The project no longer has a hydrogen component.

The project features a 1.15 gigawatt (GW) solar photovoltaic facility with 3.1 million solar panels and up to 4,600 megawatt-hour battery energy storage system (BESS) capable of storing up to 1.15 GW of electricity for four hours. It would also include a 34.5-500 kilovolt grid step-up substation, a 10-15 mile 500 kV generation intertie (gen-tie) line, and a 500 kV utility switching station. The San Francisco-based developer is Intersect Power.

A news release says, “over the next eight years, the company Intersect Power will give $325,000 to the Fresno-based nonprofit. Money will go to the food bank’s Neighborhood Market, Mobile Pantry, Child Hunger Programs, and Farmworkers Community Partnership Program in western Fresno County.”

The California High-Speed Rail Authority is struggling to stay alive facing strong criticism from the Trump administration and his efforts to scale back funding already allotted to the unfinished bullet train project.

But that’s not keeping the rail agency from moving forward on a project to build a solar farm and battery storage facility in the Central Valley that will 100% power the proposed electric trains. The trains, if and when they run, will operate through Kings County and need nearby power to make them run.

The CHSR Authority will hold scoping sessions at three locations in the Central Valley near where they are proposing sites for at least three solar farms. The purpose of the Central Valley PV/BESS Project is for the Authority to operate the HSR System on 100 percent renewable energy through solar generation and battery storage on Authority-owned land. The PV will produce the energy to power the system while the battery storage (BESS) will provide energy backup in the event of an outage and reduce peak-demand during normal train operations.

The public meeting in Hanford will be held March 13 not far from one proposed site for a 50 MW solar farm along Kent Avenue and Eighth in Kings County. The meeting will be Thursday, March 13, 2025, 5-7:00 p.m., Hanford Civic Auditorium, 400 N. Douty Street, Hanford.

The Central Valley PV/BESS Project would provide both a primary source of power and backup power to Traction Power Substations (TPSS) No.7, No.9, No.10, and No.12 along the rail alignment between Merced and Bakersfield, California. The TPSS locations are designed to provide a connection between an investor owned or municipal electric utility and the HSR system. The battery storage would be co-located with the TPSS, while the solar arrays would be located adjacent to the HSR alignment, between two and 11 miles from a TPSS.

TPSS 10, located on a portion of Kings County APN 028-080-001 along the east side of the HSR alignment, east of State Route 43/ Central Valley Highway, north of Jersey Avenue, and south of Jackson Avenue, would house and estimated thirteen BESS modules with an estimated capacity of 50 megawatt/hours (MWh).

Construction of the project is anticipated to take 21 to 27 months and would begin in 2026 and be completed by 2028, says the agency.

The PV and BESS will be used to fully support the energy needs of the rail system in the Central Valley. The PV will produce the energy to power the system, while the BESS will provide energy backup in the event of an outage and reduce peak-demand during normal train operations.

The Central Valley PV/BESS Project would provide both a primary source of power and backup power to Traction Power Substations (TPSS) No.7, No.9, No.10, and No.12 along the rail alignment between Merced and Bakersfield, California. The TPSS locations are designed to provide a connection between an investor owned or municipal electric utility and the HSR system. The four substations2 were environmentally evaluated and approved by the Authority as part of the Merced to Fresno EIR/EIS (2012) and the Fresno to Bakersfield EIR/EIS (2014). The battery storage would be co-located with the TPSS, while the solar arrays would be located adjacent to the HSR alignment, between 2 and 11 miles from a TPSS. The PV and BESS will be used to fully support the energy needs of the rail system in the Central Valley. The PV will produce the energy to power the system, while the BESS will provide energy backup in the event of an outage and reduce peak-demand during normal train operations.

LA Times reports that wastewater monitoring for H5N1 bird flu in the state’s most at risk communities — the Central Valley — where dairy workers, dairy herds and commercial poultry operations are concentrated is not happening.

A few days ago State Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) introduced a bill, the Wastewater Surveillance Act, that would require at least one wastewater monitoring site in every California county. California has accounted for 77% of all U.S. dairy herd infections and 38 of the nation’s 68 human cases. There is no testing in Tulare and Kings counties.