California’s grid operator on Monday selected private equity firm Lotus Infrastructure Global Operations and Southern California Edison to jointly build and own a roughly $503 million transmission project.
Among other elements, the project includes a 30-mile, 500-kV transmission line that the California Independent System Operator expects will be operating by 2034, according to the grid operator’s most recent annual transmission plan. CAISO intends to release a report on May 27 outlining why it selected SoCalEd-Lotus as the winning bidder. Lotus Infrastructure formerly was known as Starwood Energy Group Global.
Unsuccessful bidders for the North of SONGS-to-Serrano 500-kV transmission line project are LS Power Grid California; Horizon West Transmission, a NextEra Energy Transmission subsidiary; and California Grid Holdings, a subsidiary of Viridion Holdings, which is owned by private equity firm Blackstone.
The project is one of three that were eligible for a competitive solicitation from CAISO’s transmission plan, which the grid operator’s board approved a year ago.
The other two projects are the Imperial Valley-to-North of SONGS 500-kV line and substation and the North Gila-to-Imperial Valley 500-kV line. The three projects are needed to help California meet its clean energy goals, in part by increasing transmission capacity in the Los Angeles Basin, according to CAISO.
Earlier this month, CAISO said it selected NextEra’s Horizon West Transmission to build and own the roughly $2.3 billion Imperial Valley–North of SONGS project, which includes a 145-mile, 500-kV transmission line. CAISO expects the project will be in service in 2034.
Unsuccessful bidders for that project were California Grid Holdings, Lotus and SoCalEd, and San Diego Gas & Electric.
NextEra’s Horizon West Transmission also won the solicitation process for the roughly $340 million North Gila-to-Imperial Valley project, which consists of a 500-kV circuit between the North Gila and Imperial Valley substations, according to a mid-April report from CAISO. The grid operator expects that project will be operating by mid-2032.
Companies that also bid on that project were California Grid Holdings, LS Power Grid California, Lotus Infrastructure and Valley Power Connect, a consortium that includes Grid United, Citizens Energy and the Imperial Irrigation District.
CAISO’s draft 2023-2024 transmission plan, which its board is set to vote on Thursday, includes about $4.1 billion in projects that are slated to be put out to bid.
