SAN DIEGO, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sempra Infrastructure, a subsidiary of Sempra (NYSE: SRE) (BMV: SRE), announced today that Phase II of its Energía Sierra Juárez (ESJ) wind farm in Tecate, Baja California began operations. ESJ, the first cross-border renewable energy project between Mexico and the United States, now provides 263 megawatts (MW) of zero-carbon electricity to the California electricity market.
"The expansion of our ESJ wind farm demonstrates our efforts to help support the continued integration of the North American energy markets in a sustainable way," said Justin Bird, CEO of Sempra Infrastructure. "Our latest investment underscores the confidence Sempra Infrastructure has in the Baja region as we look to connect abundant wind and solar resources to key customers in the U.S. and Mexico."
The Phase II expansion of ESJ added 26 new wind turbines with a total incremental capacity of 108 MW. The increased production is equivalent to the annual energy consumption of over 180,000 homes and is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 170,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year.
The construction of the new facility created more than 1,700 direct and indirect jobs in Mexico. In addition, ESJ holds lease agreements with landowners who will continue receiving payments based on the company's revenue from electricity sales, as well as other important social investment plans the company has in place as part of Sempra Infrastructure's commitment to the communities where we operate.
Building Clean Energy Networks
With a focus on safe and reliable integration of electrical grids in North America, Sempra Infrastructure is among the top producers of renewable energy in Mexico, operating more than 1,600 MW of clean power generation facilities, including two wind farms, five operating solar photovoltaic parks and a natural gas combined-cycle plant. The company is also working to develop additional renewable energy generation and related electric transmission infrastructure to supply U.S. and Mexico energy markets with new solar, wind and battery storage.
In addition, Sempra Infrastructure is also engaged in efforts to help decarbonize electricity generation in global markets through its LNG export projects, including the proposed expansion of the Cameron LNG joint venture that would utilize electric compression with the aim of reducing the project's greenhouse gas footprint. As part of this, the company recently announced a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Entergy Louisiana, the local utility provider, to pursue renewable electricity sources to power the project. Sempra Infrastructure is also constructing the ECA LNG natural gas export project in Baja California, developing two other LNG projects in the states of Sinaloa and Baja Sur, Mexico, and continuing to invest in natural gas infrastructure to bring abundant U.S. natural gas to underserved markets in Mexico.
The development and construction of Sempra Infrastructure's projects are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including securing all necessary commercial agreements and permits, obtaining financing and other factors, including reaching a final investment decision.
About Sempra Infrastructure
Sempra Infrastructure delivers energy for a better world. Through the combined strength of its assets in North America, the company is dedicated to enabling the energy transition and beyond. With a continued focus on sustainability, innovation, world-class safety, championing people, resilient operations and social responsibility, its more than 2,000 employees develop, build and operate clean power, energy networks and LNG and net-zero solutions, that are expected to play a crucial role in the energy systems of the future. For more information about Sempra Infrastructure, please visit www.SempraInfrastructure.com and follow on social media.
This press release contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions with respect to the future, involve risks and uncertainties, and are not guarantees. Future results may differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements represent our estimates and assumptions only as of the date of this press release. We assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other factors.
In this press release, forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "estimates," "projects," "forecasts," "should," "could," "would," "will," "confident," "may," "can," "potential," "possible," "proposed," "in process," "under construction," "in development," "target," "outlook," "maintain," "continue," "goal," "aim," "commit," or similar expressions, or when we discuss our guidance, priorities, strategy, goals, vision, mission, opportunities, projections, intentions or expectations.
Factors, among others, that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those described in any forward-looking statements include risks and uncertainties relating to: decisions, investigations, regulations, issuances or revocations of permits and other authorizations, and other actions by (i) the U.S. Department of Energy, Comisión Reguladora de Energía, U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other regulatory and governmental bodies and (ii) states, counties, cities and other jurisdictions in the U.S., Mexico and other countries in which we do business; the success of business development efforts, construction projects and acquisitions and divestitures, including risks in (i) the ability to make a final investment decision, (ii) completing construction projects or other transactions on schedule and budget, (iii) the ability to realize anticipated benefits from any of these efforts if completed, and (iv) obtaining the consent or approval of partners or other third parties, including governmental entities; the resolution of civil and criminal litigation, regulatory inquiries, investigations and proceedings, and arbitrations; changes to laws, including proposed changes to the Mexican constitution that could materially limit access to the electric generation market and changes to Mexico's trade rules that could materially limit our ability to import, export, transport and store hydrocarbons; failure of foreign governments and state-owned entities to honor their contracts and commitments and property disputes; actions by credit rating agencies to downgrade our credit ratings or to place those ratings on negative outlook and our ability to borrow on favorable terms and meet our substantial debt service obligations; the impact of energy and climate goals, policies, legislation and rulemaking, including actions to reduce or eliminate reliance on natural gas generally; the pace of the development and adoption of new technologies in the energy sector, including those designed to support governmental and private party energy and climate goals, and our ability to timely and economically incorporate them into our business; weather, natural disasters, pandemics, accidents, equipment failures, explosions, acts of terrorism, information system outages or other events that disrupt our operations, damage our facilities and systems, cause the release of harmful materials, cause fires or subject us to liability for property damage or personal injuries, fines and penalties, some of which may not be covered by insurance, may be disputed by insurers or may impact our ability to obtain satisfactory levels of affordable insurance; the availability of natural gas; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including potential vaccination mandates, on capital projects, regulatory approvals and the execution of our operations; cybersecurity threats to the storage and pipeline infrastructure, information and systems used to operate our businesses, and confidentiality of our proprietary information and personal information of our customers and employees, including ransomware attacks on our systems and the systems of third-party vendors and other parties with which we conduct business; volatility in foreign currency exchange, inflation and interest rates and commodity prices and our ability to effectively hedge these risks; changes in tax and trade policies, laws and regulations, including tariffs and revisions to international trade agreements that may increase our costs, reduce our competitiveness, or impair our ability to resolve trade disputes; and other uncertainties, some of which may be difficult to predict and are beyond our control.
These risks and uncertainties are further discussed in the reports that Sempra has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These reports are available through the EDGAR system free-of-charge on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov, and on Sempra's website at www.sempra.com. Investors should not rely unduly on any forward-looking statements.
Sempra Infrastructure is not the same company as San Diego Gas & Electric or Southern California Gas Company, and neither Sempra Infrastructure nor any of its subsidiaries are regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission.
SOURCE Sempra North American Infrastructure
