Greenfield Solar PV Facility to Include Multiple Cell Technologies and an Onsite Substation

EDF Renewable Energy (formerly enXco) engaged Black & Veatch to provide preliminary engineering, owner’s engineer, and construction monitoring services for the Catalina solar photovoltaic (PV) facility, located in Kern County, California.

At 110 MWac and using multiple solar PV cell technologies in fixed array configuration, the Catalina solar PV project is among the largest solar PV facilities in the United States. The clean energy generated by the solar field is enough to power 35,000 homes. It will be collected at 34.5 kV and transformed at a new onsite 34.5-230 kV project substation.

Black & Veatch provided a variety of services in connection with the project, including local planning and permit support; equipment selection support; preliminary site layout and service road planning; storm water pollution prevention plan support; and EPC contractor design reviews. The company also provided vendor equipment document reviews, as well as expediting services for critical equipment deliveries. Preparation for the substation design-build bid package was provided, along with full-time construction monitoring.

In order to optimize the site, preliminary engineering also included studies that examined the tilt, azimuth and shading angles for the cells, as well as row spacing and table design.