The Department of the Navy will host a signing ceremony this week with Western Area Power Administration and Sempra U.S. Gas & Power, a US renewable energy developer, to celebrate the largest renewable energy purchase by a federal entity. Via a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA), the Navy will purchase enough solar to provide a third of the power needed for 14 Navy and Marine Corps installations in California.
The Mesquite 3 solar facility being built by Sempra is located in Arizona and will have a maximum capacity of 210 MW direct current. Sempra expects it to be online in 2016.
In September 2014, Western Area Power issued a request for proposal on behalf of the Department of the Navy to enter into an agreement for the off-base renewable energy generation.
