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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgreement A-17-209 with RE Tranquillity 8 Amarillo LLC.pdf1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 069923\8542832v3 RECLAMATION AGREEMENT THIS AGREEMENT is entered into this ____ day of ______________________, 2017, by and between the COUNTY OF FRESNO, a political subdivision of the State of California (“COUNTY”), and RE Tranquillity 8 Amarillo LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“APPLICANT”) each a “Party” and collectively, the “Parties.” W I T N E S S E T H: WHEREAS, on October 9, 2014, pursuant to County Resolution No. 12466, subject to the conditions listed therein, the COUNTY’s Planning Commission certified Environmental Impact Report No. 6730 for the Tranquillity Solar Generation Facility, approving eight separate conditional use permits, Unclassified Conditional Use Permit (“CUP”) Nos. 3451 through 3458. As a condition of those approvals, the Planning Commission required compliance with that certain Reclamation Plan: RE Tranquillity 2 LLC, UCUP Application Number 3452, dated August 2014 and that certain Reclamation Plan: RE Tranquillity 3 LLC, UCUP Application Number 3453, dated August 2014 (collectively, the “Reclamation Plan”). A true and complete copy of the Reclamation Plan is attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference as Exhibit A. WHEREAS, APPLICANT will undertake the performance of the Project described in CUP Nos. 3452-3453, consisting of the construction and operation of a solar photovoltaic power plant capable of generating up to twenty (20) megawatts (“MW”) (the “Project”). WHEREAS, the Project will be situated on that real property commonly described as one (1) parcel located south of W. Floral Avenue, north of W. Nebraska Avenue, east of S. San Bernardino Avenue, and west of S. Ohio Avenue on approximately One Hundred and Ninety Eight and 66/100 (198.66) acres in western unincorporated Fresno County (the “Property”), as more particularly described on Exhibit B, attached hereto. WHEREAS, the Reclamation Plan requires that APPLICANT decommission the Project at the end of the Project’s useful life or the termination of CUP Nos. 3452-3453, whichever occurs first, and reclaim the site to its pre-Project condition. To secure APPLICANT’s performance of its obligations under the Reclamation Plan, the Reclamation Plan requires that APPLICANT, in its sole discretion (i) post cash in the initial minimum aggregate amount identified in CUP Nos. 3452-3453 (“Cash 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 069923\8542832v3 - 2 - Equivalent”) or (ii) establish and maintain throughout the life of the Project an irrevocable standby letter of credit, issued to COUNTY from a state or national financial institution (“Letter of Credit”, collectively with the “Cash Equivalent”, the “Security”). The Security shall be in the initial minimum aggregate amount identified in CUP Nos. 3452-3453, shall be delivered to COUNTY prior to COUNTY’s issuance of the building permit for CUP Nos. 3452-3453, and, if the Letter of Credit, shall be in a form and substance satisfactory to COUNTY as provided in this Agreement. WHEREAS, to enable APPLICANT to comply with the above-referenced requirements of the Reclamation Plan and to memorialize the respective responsibilities of APPLICANT and COUNTY with respect to the Reclamation Plan, and COUNTY’s rights with respect to the Letter of Credit, COUNTY and APPLICANT enter into this Agreement. NOW THEREFORE, for good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged, the Parties hereby agree as follows: 1. APPLICANT’S OBLIGATIONS. (a) Compliance with Reclamation Plan. APPLICANT shall at its own cost, fully comply with all provisions of the Reclamation Plan, including but not limited to, Section 6 thereof. (b) Notice to COUNTY. APPLICANT shall provide written notice to COUNTY within seven (7) calendar days of the occurrence of either (i) the expiration or termination of CUP Nos. 3452 and 3453 or (ii) the abandonment of the Project without APPLICANT making efforts to cure a disruption of electricity production, whichever occurs first. Such notice shall be provided to the person set forth in Section 6 of this Agreement. (c) Time is of the Essence. It is understood that time is of the essence in the performance of all obligations under this Agreement and the Reclamation Plan. Any reference in this Agreement to “business days” shall mean the business days of the Party required to perform an obligation herein. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 069923\8542832v3 - 3 - 2. SECURITY FOR APPLICANT’S OBLIGATIONS. As security to COUNTY for APPLICANT’s faithful performance of all of their obligations herein, APPLICANT shall, not later than five (5) business days subsequent to the final execution of this Agreement by the Parties, submit the Security to the COUNTY, which shall be a cash amount of One Hundred Seventy Three Thousand, Eight Hundred Eighteen Dollars and no cents ($173,818.00), which may only be drawn upon by the COUNTY upon the occurrence of an Event of Default pursuant to Section 3 of this Agreement. Upon receipt from APPLICANT, the COUNTY Director of Public Works and Planning, or his or her designee (the “Director”), shall deposit the Cash Security in a non-interest bearing account (the “Cash Security Account”). On or before the each April 25 for each year that this Agreement is in effect, APPLICANT shall remit the sum of Five Thousand Two Hundred Fourteen Dollars and Fifty Four cents ($5,214.54) (“Annual Increase to Cash Security”), which shall be added to the Cash Security to satisfy APPLICANT’s obligation to increase the Cash Security by three percent (3%) per year. Upon receipt from APPLICANT, the COUNTY Director of Public Works and Planning, or his or her designee (the “Director”), shall deposit the Annual Increase to the Cash Security Account. The Director is hereby authorized by COUNTY to make any determination by COUNTY, or to take any action on behalf of COUNTY, required under this Agreement. 3. DEFAULT. For purposes of this Agreement, the occurrence of any one or more of the following events shall constitute an “Event of Default” by APPLICANT under this Agreement: (a) APPLICANT fails to deliver the Cash Equivalent to the COUNTY; (b) The breach or default, in any material respect, in the performance of any obligation in this Agreement, or falsity of any representations or warranties, of APPLICANT contained in this Agreement; (c) The failure of APPLICANT to timely pay any amount due or owed by APPLICANT in connection with the Reclamation Plan or this Agreement; (d) The failure of APPLICANT to observe or perform, in any material respect, any other obligation under this Agreement or the Reclamation Plan for a period of thirty (30) calendar days 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 069923\8542832v3 - 4 - after COUNTY provides written notice to APPLICANT stating the obligation APPLICANT has failed to perform, provided however, if the nature of the default is such that APPLICANT cannot reasonably cure the default within thirty (30) calendar days, APPLICANT shall have an additional reasonable time to cure, subject to APPLICANT commencing to cure within the thirty (30) calendar day period and diligently pursuing the cure to completion and completing the cure not later one hundred twenty (120) calendar days from the date of COUNTY’s notice of such failure to perform. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, this subsection d shall not apply to any of APPLICANT’s obligations under Section 2 of this Agreement or APPLICANT’s obligations under Section 11 of this Agreement; (e) Bankruptcy, reorganization, liquidation, arrangement, insolvency, receivership or conservatorship proceedings, or other proceedings for relief under any bankruptcy or similar law or laws for the relief of debtors, are instituted by or against APPLICANT, and are not dismissed within ninety (90) days of institution, or there is an assignment by APPLICANT for the benefit of creditors, or any similar action taken by or against APPLICANT, or APPLICANT is insolvent. (f) The failure of APPLICANT or any Transferee as defined in Section 9 of this Agreement to fulfill any obligation stated in said Section 9. 4. COUNTY’S REMEDIES. Upon the determination of COUNTY’s Board of Supervisors, by an official action, that an Event of Default has occurred with respect to APPLICANT, COUNTY’s Board of Supervisors shall have the right to declare that APPLICANT is in material breach of this Agreement, and COUNTY thereupon shall be entitled to immediately draw upon the Security, or from time to time immediately make partial draws upon the Security, which partial draws shall permanently reduce the total amount of the Security. COUNTY will provide APPLICANT at least twenty-one (21) calendar days’ advance written notice of the date, time and place of the public meeting at which the COUNTY’s Board of Supervisors will consider and determine whether APPLICANT is in material breach of this Agreement. If COUNTY draws upon the Security, COUNTY shall use the proceeds thereof solely to perform the reclamation of the Property in substantial conformity with the Reclamation Plan; provided however, any such act by COUNTY shall not obligate COUNTY to continue performance under, or to complete, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 069923\8542832v3 - 5 - such Reclamation Plan, beyond the amount of such funds so drawn. Subject to the limitation of COUNTY’s obligations in the foregoing sentence, COUNTY may also use a portion of such proceeds for COUNTY’s reasonable administrative and overhead costs in connection with such reclamation of the Property pursuant to the Reclamation Plan. COUNTY shall maintain records, for a period of one (1) year following the final use of any proceeds of the Security, documenting the use of the proceeds of the Security, and such records shall be made available to APPLICANT within ten (10) calendar days following written request thereof by APPLICANT. APPLICANT each promises, covenants, and warrants that if COUNTY draws upon, or attempts to draw upon, the Security, APPLICANT (including any other persons, firms, or entities acting at the direction of APPLICANT) shall not in any way whatsoever defeat, interfere with, obstruct, or cause delay to said right of COUNTY to do so. 5. SEVERABILITY. If any provision of this Agreement is determined to be illegal, invalid, void, or unenforceable in a final judgment by a court of competent jurisdiction, each and every other provision hereof shall remain in full force and effect. 6. NOTICES. The persons and their addresses having authority to give and receive notices under this Agreement include the following: COUNTY Director of Public Works and Planning County of Fresno 2220 Tulare Street, Eighth Floor Fresno, CA 93721 Copies of notices to COUNTY shall also be given to: Fresno County Counsel 2220 Tulare Street, Fifth Floor Fresno, CA 93721 APPLICANT RE Tranquillity 8 Amarillo LLC c/o Recurrent Energy 300 California St., 7th Floor San Francisco, CA 94104 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 069923\8542832v3 - 6 - County Administrative Officer Attn: Public Works and Planning Analyst County of Fresno Hall of Records 2281 Tulare Street, Room 304 Fresno, CA 93721 Any and all notices between COUNTY and APPLICANT provided for in, or permitted under, this Agreement shall be in writing and shall be deemed duly served when personally delivered to one of the parties, or in lieu of such personal services, when deposited in the United States Mail, postage prepaid, addressed to such Party. 7. LEGAL AUTHORITY. Each individual executing or attesting this Agreement hereby covenants, warrants, and represents to the other Party: (1) that he or she is duly authorized to execute and deliver this Agreement on behalf of his or her respective Party in accordance with the following: for APPLICANT, its articles of organization and operating agreement; and for COUNTY, its governing legal authority; (2) that this Agreement is binding upon his or her respective Party; and (3) that his or her respective Party is duly organized and legally existing in good standing in the State of California. 8. MODIFICATION. Any matters of this Agreement may be modified from time to time by the written consent of all the Parties without, in any way, affecting the remainder. 9. NOTICE OF TRANSFER. Unless there is an Event of Default, APPLICANT may, without COUNTY’s consent, transfer their respective interests in this Agreement, but only in their entirety, to any entity or person that becomes the sole permittee under CUP Nos 3452-3453 (“Transferee”). Notwithstanding the foregoing, but still subject to the foregoing condition that there is not an Event of Default, such transfer shall not be effective unless and until, not later than thirty (30) calendar days after the transfer, APPLICANT shall (a) provide written notice of the transfer to COUNTY, together with the contact information for the Transferee’s duly authorized representative for purposes of receiving and giving notices under Section 6 of this Agreement, (b) cause Transferee to execute an assignment and assumption agreement, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 069923\8542832v3 - 7 - in a form and substance reasonably satisfactory to COUNTY, expressly assuming the obligations of the APPLICANT under this Agreement, and (c) provide evidence reasonably satisfactory to COUNTY that the Transferee is, or shall become, a permittee under CUP Nos. 3452-3453. Upon such satisfaction of the above conditions, APPLICANT shall be relieved from all obligations under this Agreement, save and except those obligations that, by their express language, survive such an assignment and transfer. In the event that APPLICANT transfers this Agreement as provided in this Section 9, COUNTY shall continue to have the rights under the Security. 10. RECORDATION OF EASEMENT. To enable COUNTY to access the Property for purposes of contemplated by this Agreement, APPLICANT shall cause the owner of the Property to grant to COUNTY a non-exclusive easement over, under, on, and across the Property (the “Easement”). A true and complete copy of the form of the Easement is attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference as Exhibit C. COUNTY shall have the right, upon the parties’ execution of this Agreement, to record the Easement in the official records of the County Recorder with respect to the Property. APPLICANT promises, covenants, and warrants to COUNTY that APPLICANT shall not, subsequent to the date of this Agreement, record any liens, encumbrances, covenants, conditions, restrictions, reservations, contracts, leases or licenses, easements, or rights of way in the official records of the County Recorder with respect to the Property, which interferes or will interfere with COUNTY’s rights under the Easements, without the COUNTY’s express written consent, which shall not be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed. APPLICANT promises, covenants, and warrants to COUNTY that the Lease between APPLICANT and owner of the Property, as referenced in the recitals to the Easement, shall not interfere with COUNTY’s rights under the Easement, without the COUNTY’s express written consent, which shall not be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed. 11. SATISFACTION OF RECLAMATION PLAN. Upon APPLICANT’s determination, in its sole discretion, that it has satisfied each of the provisions of the Reclamation Plan, APPLICANT shall submit written notification to the COUNTY of such determination, which notice shall be prominently entitled “Satisfaction Notice under Reclamation 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 069923\8542832v3 - 8 - Agreement” (“Satisfaction Notice”). COUNTY shall have forty five (45) calendar days from receiving APPLICANT’s Satisfaction Notice to determine, in its sole discretion, whether the APPLICANT has satisfied the provisions of the Reclamation Plan. Upon such determination, COUNTY shall notify APPLICANT in writing of its determination and identify what provisions of the Reclamation Plan remain unsatisfied (if any), which notice shall be prominently entitled “Notice of Dissatisfaction Under Reclamation Agreement” (“Notice of Dissatisfaction”). Within sixty (60) calendar days of receipt of a Notice of Dissatisfaction, APPLICANT shall satisfy those provisions of the Reclamation Plan identified in the Notice of Dissatisfaction, except in those instances where such compliance shall take longer than sixty (60) calendar days, APPLICANT shall have such time as is reasonably necessary as long as APPLICANT has begun such compliance and diligently continues to pursue such compliance to completion, provided however that all such compliance actions shall be finalized within one hundred and eighty (180) calendar days of APPLICANT’s receipt of the first Notice of Dissatisfaction. APPLICANT shall provide COUNTY written notice upon completion of the actions set forth in the Notice of Dissatisfaction. The APPLICANT’s completion of the actions set forth in the Notice of Satisfaction shall, upon COUNTY’s determination, it is sole discretion, within forty (45) calendar days thereof, and notice thereof, which shall be given to APPLICANT within fifteen (15) calendar days following such determination, be deemed APPLICANT’s satisfaction of its obligations under the Reclamation Plan and this Agreement. Within ten (10) calendar days following such notice satisfaction being given by COUNTY to APPLICANT, COUNTY shall return the Cash Equivalent to APPLICANT, and upon the delivery thereof, this Agreement thereupon shall terminate and the rights and obligations herein shall be of no further force or effect. COUNTY’s failure to timely respond to APPLICANT’s Satisfaction Notice submitted to COUNTY, as provided herein, with COUNTY’s Notice of Dissatisfaction, as provided herein, shall be deemed approval of the Satisfaction Notice and APPLICANT’s completion of its obligations under the Reclamation Plan and this Agreement, provided however, such COUNTY failure to so timely respond shall not be deemed to be a cure of any uncured Event of Default. Within ten (10) calendar days following such deemed approval, following written notice from APPLICANT, and so long as there is no uncured Event of Default, COUNTY shall return the Cash Equivalent to APPLICANT, and upon the 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 069923\8542832v3 - 9 - delivery thereof, this Agreement thereupon shall terminate and the rights and obligations herein shall be of no further force or effect. 12. GOVERNING LAW; VENUE. The rights and obligations of the Parties and all interpretation and performance of this Agreement shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the State of California. Venue for any action arising out of or related to this Agreement shall only be in Fresno County, California. 13. CONSTRUCTION OF AGREEMENT. The Parties hereby acknowledge that they and their respective counsel have cooperated in the drafting and preparation of this Agreement, for which reason this Agreement shall not be construed against any Party as the drafter hereof. 14. COUNTERPARTS. This Agreement may be executed in one or more original counterparts, all of which together will constitute one and the same agreement. 15. ENTIRE AGREEMENT. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between APPLICANT and COUNTY with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersedes all previous agreements, negotiations, proposals, commitments, writings, advertisements, publications, and understanding of any nature whatsoever unless expressly included in this Agreement. In the event of any inconsistency in interpreting the documents which constitute this Agreement, the inconsistency shall be resolved by giving precedence in the following order of priority: (1) first, the text of this Agreement (excluding Exhibit A, Exhibit B, Exhibit C, and Schedule A); (2) second, Exhibit A; (3) third, Exhibit B; and (4) fourth, Exhibit C. /// /// /// /// /// /// 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 069923\8542832v3 Exhibit A-1 EXHIBIT A Reclamation Plan [See Attached]     RECLAMATION  PLAN  RE Tranquillity 2 LLC  UCUP Application Number: 3452    Prepared For:  Fresno County Department  of Public Works & Planning        August 2014      Table of Contents    1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1  2. Historical Agricultural Use ................................................................................................................ 2  3. Project Facility & Equipment ............................................................................................................ 3  3.1 Photovoltaic Modules ......................................................................................................................... 3  3.2 Panel Installation, Array Assembly, and Racking ................................................................................ 3  3.3 Electrical Collection, Inverters, and Transformers .............................................................................. 4  3.4 Project Substation ............................................................................................................................... 4  3.5 Telecommunications ........................................................................................................................... 5  3.6 Battery Storage System ....................................................................................................................... 5  3.7 Meteorological Data Collection System .............................................................................................. 5  3.8 Operations and Maintenance Building and Electrical Control Building .............................................. 5  4. Project’s Useful Life .......................................................................................................................... 5  5. Property Ownership ......................................................................................................................... 6  6. Procedures for Decommissioning After Operations Cease ................................................................ 6  6.1 Timing for Removal ............................................................................................................................. 6  6.2 General Removal Process.................................................................................................................... 6  6.3 Removal of Electrical Equipment, PV Modules, and Infrastructure ................................................... 7  6.4 Use and Removal of Hazardous Materials .......................................................................................... 7  6.5 Revegetation ....................................................................................................................................... 8  7. Site Plans ......................................................................................................................................... 8  8. Engineer’s Opinion of Probable Construction Cost ............................................................................ 8  9. Financial Assurances ........................................................................................................................ 9  10. Record of Owner’s Notice of Proposed Reclamation Plan ............................................................... 9  Appendix A – RE Tranquillity 1‐8 LLC Site Plans    Recurrent Energy  1  1. Introduction  Recurrent Energy, through its wholly owned subsidiary RE Tranquillity 2 LLC, is proposing to construct,  own, and operate a photovoltaic (PV) solar generating facility (the Project) of up to 15 megawatts (MW),  located on up to approximately 80 acres of a property in Fresno County, California. The Project is known  as the RE Tranquillity 2 Solar Generating Facility.  The RE Tranquillity 2 Project would be located in unincorporated Fresno County, California. The site is  generally bounded by South San Bernardino Avenue to the west, West Floral Avenue to the north, an  unnamed road east of South San Bernardino Avenue to the east, and West Rose Avenue to the south, as  shown in Figure 1. The proposed Project site includes 2 parcels, including Assessor’s Parcel Numbers  (APN) 038‐320‐01ST, 038‐320‐06ST. The site is zoned AE, and is designated “Exclusive Agriculture” under  the Fresno County General Plan.  The Project would be surrounded by up to seven other solar photovoltaic projects proposed by  Recurrent Energy on adjacent and contiguous properties, if these projects are approved by the Fresno  County Planning Commission, as shown in Figure 2.     Figure 1. Tranquillity 2 Solar Generating Facility    Recurrent Energy  2  The proposed Project would be comprised of solar panels, inverters, access roads, an operations and  maintenance (O&M) building, and electrical equipment including substations, battery storage  enclosures, and wiring.  2. Historical Agricultural Use  The Project is located on undeveloped land that is zoned as Exclusive Agriculture and has been in low‐ yield agricultural production or left fallow intermittently for the past 10 years, as detailed in Table 1.   The Project site is presently owned by Westlands Water District. The site is subject to high levels of  selenium and a water table that does not provide for sufficient drainage for commercially irrigated  crops. As a result, all of the Project parcels were acquired by Westlands Water District in lieu of eminent  domain, taken out of commercial production, and restricted from irrigation by a drainage easement.   The Project parcels are intermittently dry farmed for winter wheat and oats, which provide the lowest  revenue per acre of any crop in Fresno County. Because the properties are cultivated without the  benefit of irrigation, the productivity of the crop depends entirely on rain and often times results in a  crop that never matures to harvest and is instead grazed as rangeland grass. Table 1 provides a ten‐year    Figure 2. Tranquillity 1‐8 Solar Generating Facilities    Recurrent Energy  3  crop history along with a record of the soil disturbance for the preparation, cultivation, and harvesting  of rain‐fed wheat and oat crops.   Table 1. Ten‐year Crop History for APNs in RE Tranquillity 2 Solar Generating Facility Footprint  Year Irrigation Soil Preparation Crop(s) Harvested  2013 Not Irrigated Tilled, seeded, harvested & tilled Rain‐fed wheat and oats  2012 Not Irrigated Tilled, seeded, harvested & tilled Rain‐fed wheat and oats  2011 Not Irrigated Tilled, seeded, harvested & tilled Rain‐fed wheat and oats  2010 Not Irrigated Tilled, seeded, harvested & tilled Rain‐fed wheat and oats  2009 Not Irrigated Tilled, seeded, harvested & tilled Rain‐fed wheat and oats  2008 Not Irrigated Tilled, seeded, harvested & tilled Rain‐fed wheat and oats  2007 Not Irrigated Tilled, seeded, harvested & tilled Rain‐fed wheat and oats  2006 Not Irrigated Tilled, seeded, harvested & tilled Rain‐fed wheat and oats  2005 Not Irrigated Tilled, seeded, harvested & tilled Rain‐fed wheat and oats  2004 Not Irrigated Tilled, seeded, harvested & tilled Rain‐fed wheat and oats  3. Project Facility & Equipment  The proposed Project would be comprised of solar panels, inverters, access roads, an operations and  maintenance (O&M) building, and electrical equipment including substations, battery storage  enclosures, and wiring.  The Site would be secured by a 6‐ to 8‐foot‐high, chain link perimeter fence, topped with three‐strand  barbed wire, through which multiple points of ingress/egress would be accessed by locked gates.  3.1 Photovoltaic Modules  The PV modules will be manufactured at an off‐site location and then transported to the Project site.  The PV modules will be mounted on a galvanized metal racking system (that would include a metal  single‐axis utility‐scale tracker or a fixed‐tilt racking system) and would be connected to inverter‐ transformer stations. The modules will be made of a semiconductor material covered by a tempered  glass pane or otherwise sealed for long‐term outdoor durability. PV modules would be dark colored,  highly absorptive, and minimally reflective.  3.2 Panel Installation, Array Assembly, and Racking  Structures supporting the PV modules would consist of steel posts (e.g., cylindrical pipes, H‐beams, or  similar), which would be driven into the soil using pneumatic techniques, such as a hydraulic rock  hammer attachment on the boom of a rubber‐tired backhoe excavator. The posts typically would be  spaced 10 feet apart and installed to a height of approximately 4 feet above existing grade. Once the  posts have been installed, the horizontal cross‐members of the tracking system and associated motors  would be placed and secured. A galvanized metal racking system, which holds the PV modules in the  correct position for maximum capture of solar irradiance, would then be field‐assembled and attached  to the horizontal cross members.   Fixed‐tilt arrays would be oriented along an east‐west axis with panels facing generally south, and  tracking arrays would be oriented along a north‐south axis with panels tracking east to west. The total  height of the panel system measured from ground surface would be up to 12 feet.     Recurrent Energy  4  3.3 Electrical Collection, Inverters, and Transformers  Panels would be electrically connected into panel strings using wiring attached to the panel racking  system. Panel strings would be electrically connected to one other via overhead and/or underground  wiring installed from the panel strings to combiner boxes located throughout the PV arrays. Cabling  would be installed to convey the direct current (DC) electricity from the combiner boxes to inverters  which convert the DC to alternating current (AC). The output voltage of the inverters would be stepped  up to the collection system voltage via transformers located in close proximity to the inverters. Electrical  cables would be installed from the transformers to the separate Project substations accordingly.  Underground cables would be installed using ordinary trenching techniques, which would typically  include a rubber‐tired backhoe excavator or trencher. Wire depths would be in accordance with local,  state, and federal codes, and would likely be buried at a minimum of 18 inches below grade by  excavating a trench wide enough to accommodate the cables. To accommodate the cables, a polyvinyl  chloride (PVC) conduit may be installed in the trench, or, alternatively, cable rated for direct burial  would be installed. Once cable installation is completed, the excavated soil would likely be used to  backfill the trench and be lightly compressed. Where used, overhead cables would be installed on wood  poles up to 50 feet in height.    The Solar Facility would be designed and laid out in approximately 2 MW increments. Each 2 MW  increment would include an inverter‐transformer station centrally located within the PV arrays. All  electrical inverters and transformers would be placed on concrete pads or steel skids.   3.4 Project Substation  The substation areas would be excavated for the transformer equipment and control building  foundation and oil containment area. Foundations for the substation would be formed with plywood  and reinforced with structural rebar. Concrete would be poured to create foundations.  Structural components in the substation area would include:   Power transformer;    Footings and oil containment system for power transformer;   Pre‐fabricated control enclosure to enclose the protection and control equipment;   Footings for the control enclosure structure;   Metering stand;   Capacitor bank;   Busbar and short generator intertie (gen‐tie) line;    Circuit breakers and air disconnect switches; and   Dead‐end structure to connect the Project substation to a PG&E Switching Station.  The Project substations would convert power from 34.5 kV to 230 kV. The Project substation would be  transmitted via an estimated 500‐foot‐long gen‐tie into a PG&E Switching Station north of Dinuba  Avenue. The substation area would be graded and compacted to an approximately level grade. Concrete  pads would be constructed on site as foundations for substation equipment, and the remaining area    Recurrent Energy  5  would be graveled. Electrical transformers, switchgear, and related substation facilities would be  designed and constructed to transform medium‐voltage power to high‐voltage power.   The substation transformer would contain mineral oil, and the substation would be designed to  accommodate an accidental spill of transformer fluid by the use of containment‐style mounting. No PCB‐ laden fluids would be used.  3.5 Telecommunications  Within the site, the fiber optic or other cabling required for the monitoring system would typically be  installed in buried conduit, leading to a centrally located (or series of appropriately located) SCADA  system cabinets. External telecommunications connections to the SCADA system cabinets may be  through either wireless or hard wired connections to locally available commercial service providers.  Similar to electrical wiring, cable depths would likely be buried at a minimum of 18 inches below grade  by excavating a trench wide enough to accommodate the cables and conduit. Excavated soil would likely  be used to backfill the trench and be lightly compressed.  3.6 Battery Storage System  The Project may include a battery storage system, consisting of battery banks housed in electrical  enclosures and buried electrical conduit. Electrical enclosures measuring 40 feet by 8 feet by 8.5 feet  high would be installed on concrete foundations designed for secondary containment.  3.7 Meteorological Data Collection System  The Solar Facility would include a meteorological (met) data collection system. Each met station would  have multiple weather sensors: a pyranometer for measuring solar irradiance, a thermometer to  measure air temperature, a barometric pressure sensor, and wind sensors to measure speed and  direction. The four‐foot horizontal cross‐arm of each met system would include the pyranometer  mounted on the left hand side and the two wind sensors installed on a vertical mast to the right. The  temperature sensor would be mounted inside the solar shield behind the main mast. Each sensor would  be connected by cable to a data logger inside the enclosure.  3.8 Operations and Maintenance Building and Electrical Control Building  The Project would include development of an O&M building and an electrical control building. The O&M  building and control building would be constructed on concrete foundations.   4. Project’s Useful Life  The Project has an expected useful life of 35 years, with an opportunity for a lifetime of 50 years or  more, with equipment replacement and repowering. The Project consists of numerous recyclable  materials, including glass, semiconductor material, steel, wood, aluminum, copper, and plastics. When  the Project reaches the end of its operational life, the component parts can be dismantled and recycled.  The Project components will be dismantled and removed using minimal impact conventional  construction equipment and recycled or disposed of safely in accordance with all applicable laws and  regulations.    Recurrent Energy  6  5. Property Ownership  The site is presently owned by Westlands Water District. The property owner has executed an option  agreement for purchase and sale with SiteCo LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Recurrent Energy  Development Holdings. Consequently, SiteCo LLC would become the owner of the real property at  commencement of construction of the Project.  6. Procedures for Decommissioning After Operations Cease  All decommissioning, reclamation, and restoration activities will adhere to the requirements of  appropriate governing authorities, and will be in accordance with all applicable federal, provincial, and  local permits. The reclamation and restoration process comprises removal of above ground structures;  removal of below ground foundations and infrastructure; and restoration of topsoil, re‐vegetation, and  seeding. Electrical conduit and other materials that break off more than 4 feet below the ground surface  would be decommissioned in place. Appropriate temporary (construction‐related) erosion and  sedimentation control best management practices (BMP) will be used during the reclamation phase of  the Project. The BMPs will be inspected on a regular basis to ensure their function.   6.1 Timing for Removal  Reclamation of the Project will occur within six (6) months of either: (i) the expiration of a Project’s CUP  or (ii) the abandonment of a Project without the Project owner making efforts to cure a disruption of  electricity production, whichever occurs first.  6.2 General Removal Process  Effectively, the reclamation of the Project proceeds in reverse order of the installation.   The PV facility will be disconnected from the utility power grid.   PV modules will be disconnected, collected, and either shipped to another project, salvaged, or  submitted to a collection and recycling program.   Aboveground and underground electrical interconnection and distribution cables that are no  longer deemed necessary by the local public utility company will be removed and recycled off‐ site by an approved recycling facility.   PV module racking system will be removed and recycled off‐site by an approved metals recycler.   Electrical and electronic devices, including transformers and inverters will be removed and  recycled off‐site by an approved recycler.   Concrete foundations will be removed and recycled off‐site by a concrete recycler.   Fencing will be removed and will be recycled off‐site by an approved recycler.   The only roads constructed at the site will be the interior perimeter fire break roads, which will  not be paved but rather compacted and treated to be durable and dustless. The interior roads  can either remain onsite for future use, or be removed. Very little gravel will be required onsite;  gravel would be repurposed either on‐ or off‐site.   The site may be converted to other uses in accordance with applicable land use regulations in  effect at that time of reclamation. There are no permanent changes to the site and it can be    Recurrent Energy  7  restored to its original condition including revegetation. Any soil removed for construction  purposes will be relocated on the site or used for landscaping after construction is complete.  6.3 Removal of Electrical Equipment, PV Modules, and Infrastructure  Above ground electrical wiring, equipment on the inverter pads and the interconnection transformer  pad, and other associated equipment will be removed as part of reclamation. Prior to commencing  electrical equipment removal activities, the system will be de‐energized and all external electrical lines  feeding into or out of the Project will be subject to “a lock out/tag out.” The electrical components  comprising the inverter pads and interconnection transformer pad will be salvaged and placed in  appropriate shipping containers and secured in a truck transport trailer for shipment to the next  location where it will be reused. The equipment on the inverter pads includes inverters, combiners, low  voltage switch gear and medium voltage transformers. The equipment on the interconnection  transformer pad includes medium and high voltage switchgear and a high voltage transformer. All of this  is modular and each unit is bolted to a concrete pad.   The electrical connectors to each panel will be unfastened along with the combiner boxes and  disconnect switches and the bolts and fasteners attaching each module to the racks will be removed.  Each module will be removed from the rack and placed in secure transport crates and placed into a  trailer for storage and ultimately for transportation to another facility. The bolts and reusable fasteners  will be saved for reuse also.  Once the solar modules have been removed, the racks will be disassembled and the piers supporting the  racks removed. These components will require a track hoe or equivalent piece of machinery to extract  the beams by pulling them out vertically. Both the racks and pipes or H‐beams will be scraped and sold  for salvage value. Rack disassembly involves removing bolts and stacking the rack components for  salvage.   Underground electrical equipment, including electrical wiring, will be extracted and removed from the  site. However, electrical conduit and other materials that break off more than 4 feet below the ground  surface would be decommissioned in place. The wiring is either copper or aluminum (depending on the  function/location) encapsulated in an insulating plastic material. Electrical materials consist primarily of  recyclable commodities.  O&M buildings would be disassembled, and recycled or disposed of offsite. Concrete pads supporting  inverters, transformers, and O&M buildings will be removed. All fences and gates will be maintained at  all times until the equipment decommissioning and removal process is complete and the area is ready to  be demobilized. The fence and gate will be removed and all materials recycled to the greatest extent  possible. The area will be thoroughly cleaned and all debris removed.  6.4 Use and Removal of Hazardous Materials   Relatively small quantities of hazardous materials would be used during project construction and  operation. Materials of concern that would be used during construction and operation include gasoline,  diesel fuel, inverter coolant, transformer oil, sulfur hexafluoride, and cleaning chemicals.  Hazardous and non‐hazardous wastes that are likely to be generated from project construction and  operation at the Project include waste motor oils, used transformers and transformer oil, waste  hydraulic fluids, and waste solvents and adhesives. During decommissioning activities, minor spills and  leaks of hazardous materials from vehicles or equipment could also occur. All wastes would be required    Recurrent Energy  8  to be handled, stored, transported, and disposed of according to appropriate state and federal laws,  ordinances, regulations, and standards.  Fuels, lubricants, and other materials would not be stored on the Project site, and the proposed Project  applicant would not maintain an inventory of any hazardous materials on the project site. Project  operations would not generate hazardous wastes.  On‐site transformers would be filled with oil at the manufacturing company and subsequently checked  in four‐year intervals for integrity. Transformers would be mounted with secondary containment  foundations to contain oil that may be spilled during replacement, and oils used would be 98 percent  plant seed based. Inverter coolant would be routinely and remotely monitored, with replacement  expected to occur every 15 years. All oils, lubricants, and spent filters would be collected and removed  for recycling at the time of replacement and decommissioning.  6.5 Revegetation  Following removal of all solar equipment and related infrastructure, the site will undergo a series of  steps to ensure successful revegetation. All topsoil on site will be removed and stockpiled as a first step.  The site will then be deep chiseled to a depth of at least 18 inches to remove the compaction resulting  from the original construction, O&M activities and from the decommissioning. After chiseling, compost  will be applied and the topsoil spread and then the entire site will be disked to further loosen the soil  and blend in the compost.  As a final step, an appropriate rangeland seed mixture as specified by local authorities will be broadcast  or drilled across the site. A weed‐free mulch will be spread and crimped into the soil to stabilize soils  until germination takes place. Mulching facilitates moisture retention in the soil, improving germination  and survival of the seedlings.  7. Site Plans  Copies of the latest Site Plans for RE Tranquillity 1‐8 may be found in Appendix A.  8. Engineer’s Opinion of Probable Construction Cost  To provide a conservative estimate of costs associated with the decommissioning and restoration  process, including the equipment and labor for the removal of above‐ground structures and site  reclamation, Recurrent Energy has engaged with established construction and engineering firms to  identify the number of employees and equipment types required to remove Project elements. Table 2  identifies costs for equipment and labor to remove improvements associated with the Project.   As noted above, the Project would be surrounded by, and adjacent to, up to 7 other solar projects  totaling 400 MW in all. The Project is anticipated to be decommissioned and the site reclaimed on a  similar schedule to and/or sequentially with the RE Tranquillity 1 LLC, RE Tranquillity 3 LLC, RE  Tranquillity 4 LLC, RE Tranquillity 5 LLC, RE Tranquillity 6 LLC, RE Tranquillity 7 LLC, and RE Tranquillity 8  LLC projects. As a result, economies of scale would be realized from worker and equipment efficiencies  during site decommissioning and reclamation, and there is an estimated 10% cost decrease per 20 MW.             Recurrent Energy  9  Table 2: Labor and Equipment Costs for Project Reclamation    9. Financial Assurances  The Applicant will establish and maintain a Letter of Credit from a state or national financial institution  in the amount of $86,909 prior to issuance of building permits for each Phase to be maintained  throughout the life of the Project. The dollar amount will be adjusted on an annual basis to reflect a 3  percent increase in the financial security associated with decommissioning. In lieu of a letter of credit or  as a replacement of the letter of credit during the project life, RE Tranquillity 2 LLC may establish and  maintain a Bond, Cash Payment, or Decommissioning Reserve Account to be managed by a third‐party  financial institution determined by the Project’s financiers. Automatic routing of PPA payments into the  Decommissioning Reserve Account would occur throughout the Project’s life. RE Tranquillity 2 LLC would  notify Fresno County of its election to establish this account thirty (30) days in advance and would  provide all necessary documentation in advance for staff’s review and approval. Since both the County  and the landowner have an interest in decommissioning the facility after operations or in the unlikely  event it is abandoned, the third party financial institution responsible for managing the  Decommissioning Reserve Account would have a contractual obligation to the landowners not to release  funds from the Decommissioning Reserve Account other than for payment of costs associated with  decommissioning. The detailed terms and conditions under which the funds would be permitted to be  released from the Decommissioning Reserve Account would be explicitly defined in an Escrow Account  Agreement executed by the project owner, the land owner and the selected third party institution.  10. Record of Owner’s Notice of Proposed Reclamation Plan  As discussed under Section 4, SiteCo LLC, a wholly‐owned subsidiary of Recurrent Energy Development  Holdings LLC, will be purchasing the real property from the current property owner (Westlands Water  District) prior to the start of construction. Given that the current property owner will no longer have an  ownership interest in the real property once construction commences, the owner has not been notified  of the proposed reclamation plan.  Site Name: RE Tranquillity 2 LLC Reclamation  Costs Acres: 160 MW: 15 Total   Costs Workers Days Hours Labor  rate Subtotal Equipment/ fee  Hours or  number of  units Rates Subtotal Costs 1216 $     50  $         800 Container 0.75  $    1,250  $        938 1,738$        2232 $     75  $      2,400 low bed truck/  semi end dump  truck 12 22$         264$        2,664$        39216 $     75  $    16,200 flat bed truck 30 32$         960$        17,160$      310240 $     50  $    12,000 flat bed truck 37.5 32$         1,200$     13,200$      39216 $     50  $    10,800 backhoe 67.5 162$       10,935$   21,735$      2580 $     75  $      6,000 backhoe/ crane 18.75 400$       7,500$     13,500$      2464 $     40  $      2,560 backhoe 18.75 162$       3,038$     5,598$        2464 $     40  $      2,560 cat/ backhoe 15 194$       2,910$     5,470$        2464 $     40  $      2,560 cat/ water truck 22.5 146$       3,285$     5,845$        Subtotal  $    55,880 Subtotal 31,029$    $    86,909  Substation components  removed   and recycled Labor Costs Equipment Costs Reclamation Task Onsite  oils, lubricants, removed Site  disced for revegetation Electrical  interconnection and  PV modules  removed  and recycled PV module  support H ‐beams  and  Electrical  and electronic devices,  Fencing, gates  removed  and  Roads, pathways, and other             Appendix A – RE Tranquillity 1‐8 LLC Site Plans  NOT A PARTRERRREERRETRANQUILLITYTTRTRARAANNQQQUUILILLLLILITTYYU222222222LLCLLLLCCLLCLLLCLCNOT A PART RECLAMATION PLAN RE Tranquillity 3 LLC UCUP Application Number: 3453 Prepared For: Fresno County Department of Public Works & Planning August 2014 Table of Contents 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Historical Agricultural Use ................................................................................................................ 2 3. Project Facility & Equipment ............................................................................................................ 3 3.1 Photovoltaic Modules ......................................................................................................................... 3 3.2 Panel Installation, Array Assembly, and Racking ................................................................................ 3 3.3 Electrical Collection, Inverters, and Transformers .............................................................................. 4 3.4 Project Substation ............................................................................................................................... 4 3.5 Telecommunications ........................................................................................................................... 5 3.6 Battery Storage System ....................................................................................................................... 5 3.7 Meteorological Data Collection System .............................................................................................. 5 3.8 Operations and Maintenance Building and Electrical Control Building .............................................. 5 4. Project’s Useful Life .......................................................................................................................... 5 5. Property Ownership ......................................................................................................................... 6 6. Procedures for Decommissioning After Operations Cease ................................................................ 6 6.1 Timing for Removal ............................................................................................................................. 6 6.2 General Removal Process.................................................................................................................... 6 6.3 Removal of Electrical Equipment, PV Modules, and Infrastructure ................................................... 7 6.4 Use and Removal of Hazardous Materials .......................................................................................... 7 6.5 Revegetation ....................................................................................................................................... 8 7. Site Plans ......................................................................................................................................... 8 8. Engineer’s Opinion of Probable Construction Cost ............................................................................ 8 9. Financial Assurances ........................................................................................................................ 9 10. Record of Owner’s Notice of Proposed Reclamation Plan ............................................................... 9 Appendix A – RE Tranquillity 1-8 LLC Site Plans Recurrent Energy 1 1. Introduction Recurrent Energy, through its wholly owned subsidiary RE Tranquillity 3 LLC, is proposing to construct, own, and operate a photovoltaic (PV) solar generating facility (the Project) of up to 15 megawatts (MW), located on up to approximately 120 acres of a property in Fresno County, California. The Project is known as the RE Tranquillity 3 Solar Generating Facility. The RE Tranquillity 3 Project would be located in unincorporated Fresno County, California. The site is generally bounded by an unnamed road east of South San Bernardino Avenue to the west, West Floral Avenue to the north, South Ohio Avenue to the east, and a parcel line south of West Rose Avenue to the south, as shown in Figure 1. The proposed Project site includes 6 parcels, including Assessor’s Parcel Numbers (APN) 038-320-16T, 038-320-24ST, 038-320-25ST, 038-320-27ST, 038-320-28ST, 038-320-30ST. The site is zoned AE, and is designated “Exclusive Agriculture” under the Fresno County General Plan. The Project would be surrounded by up to seven other solar photovoltaic projects proposed by Recurrent Energy on adjacent and contiguous properties, if these projects are approved by the Fresno County Planning Commission, as shown in Figure 2. Figure 1. Tranquillity 3 Solar Generating Facility Recurrent Energy 2 The proposed Project would be comprised of solar panels, inverters, access roads, an operations and maintenance (O&M) building, and electrical equipment including substations, battery storage enclosures, and wiring. 2. Historical Agricultural Use The Project is located on undeveloped land that is zoned as Exclusive Agriculture and has been in low- yield agricultural production or left fallow intermittently for the past 10 years, as detailed in Table 1. The site is presently owned by Westlands Water District. The Project site is subject to high levels of selenium and a water table that does not provide for sufficient drainage for commercially irrigated crops. As a result, all of the Project parcels were acquired by Westlands Water District in lieu of eminent domain, taken out of commercial production, and restricted from irrigation by a drainage easement. The Project parcels are intermittently dry farmed for winter wheat and oats, which provide the lowest revenue per acre of any crop in Fresno County. Because the properties are cultivated without the benefit of irrigation, the productivity of the crop depends entirely on rain and often times results in a crop that never matures to harvest and is instead grazed as rangeland grass. Table 1 provides a ten-year Figure 2. Tranquillity 1-8 Solar Generating Facilities Recurrent Energy 3 crop history along with a record of the soil disturbance for the preparation, cultivation, and harvesting of rain-fed wheat and oat crops. Table 1. Ten-year Crop History for APNs in RE Tranquillity 3 Solar Generating Facility Footprint Year Irrigation Soil Preparation Crop(s) Harvested 2013 Not Irrigated Tilled, seeded, harvested & tilled Rain-fed wheat and oats 2012 Not Irrigated Tilled, seeded, harvested & tilled Rain-fed wheat and oats 2011 Not Irrigated Tilled, seeded, harvested & tilled Rain-fed wheat and oats 2010 Not Irrigated Tilled, seeded, harvested & tilled Rain-fed wheat and oats 2009 Not Irrigated Tilled, seeded, harvested & tilled Rain-fed wheat and oats 2008 Not Irrigated Tilled, seeded, harvested & tilled Rain-fed wheat and oats 2007 Not Irrigated Tilled, seeded, harvested & tilled Rain-fed wheat and oats 2006 Not Irrigated Tilled, seeded, harvested & tilled Rain-fed wheat and oats 2005 Not Irrigated Tilled, seeded, harvested & tilled Rain-fed wheat and oats 2004 Not Irrigated Tilled, seeded, harvested & tilled Rain-fed wheat and oats 3. Project Facility & Equipment The proposed Project would be comprised of solar panels, inverters, access roads, an operations and maintenance (O&M) building, and electrical equipment including substations, battery storage enclosures, and wiring. The Site would be secured by a 6- to 8-foot-high, chain link perimeter fence, topped with three-strand barbed wire, through which multiple points of ingress/egress would be accessed by locked gates. 3.1 Photovoltaic Modules The PV modules will be manufactured at an off-site location and then transported to the Project site. The PV modules will be mounted on a galvanized metal racking system (that would include a metal single-axis utility-scale tracker or a fixed-tilt racking system) and would be connected to inverter- transformer stations. The modules will be made of a semiconductor material covered by a tempered glass pane or otherwise sealed for long-term outdoor durability. PV modules would be dark colored, highly absorptive, and minimally reflective. 3.2 Panel Installation, Array Assembly, and Racking Structures supporting the PV modules would consist of steel posts (e.g., cylindrical pipes, H-beams, or similar), which would be driven into the soil using pneumatic techniques, such as a hydraulic rock hammer attachment on the boom of a rubber-tired backhoe excavator. The posts typically would be spaced 10 feet apart and installed to a height of approximately 4 feet above existing grade. Once the posts have been installed, the horizontal cross-members of the tracking system and associated motors would be placed and secured. A galvanized metal racking system, which holds the PV modules in the correct position for maximum capture of solar irradiance, would then be field-assembled and attached to the horizontal cross members. Fixed-tilt arrays would be oriented along an east-west axis with panels facing generally south, and tracking arrays would be oriented along a north-south axis with panels tracking east to west. The total height of the panel system measured from ground surface would be up to 12 feet. Recurrent Energy 4 3.3 Electrical Collection, Inverters, and Transformers Panels would be electrically connected into panel strings using wiring attached to the panel racking system. Panel strings would be electrically connected to one other via overhead and/or underground wiring installed from the panel strings to combiner boxes located throughout the PV arrays. Cabling would be installed to convey the direct current (DC) electricity from the combiner boxes to inverters which convert the DC to alternating current (AC). The output voltage of the inverters would be stepped up to the collection system voltage via transformers located in close proximity to the inverters. Electrical cables would be installed from the transformers to the separate Project substations accordingly. Underground cables would be installed using ordinary trenching techniques, which would typically include a rubber-tired backhoe excavator or trencher. Wire depths would be in accordance with local, state, and federal codes, and would likely be buried at a minimum of 18 inches below grade by excavating a trench wide enough to accommodate the cables. To accommodate the cables, a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) conduit may be installed in the trench, or, alternatively, cable rated for direct burial would be installed. Once cable installation is completed, the excavated soil would likely be used to backfill the trench and be lightly compressed. Where used, overhead cables would be installed on wood poles up to 50 feet in height. The Solar Facility would be designed and laid out in approximately 2 MW increments. Each 2 MW increment would include an inverter-transformer station centrally located within the PV arrays. All electrical inverters and transformers would be placed on concrete pads or steel skids. 3.4 Project Substation The substation areas would be excavated for the transformer equipment and control building foundation and oil containment area. Foundations for the substation would be formed with plywood and reinforced with structural rebar. Concrete would be poured to create foundations. Structural components in the substation area would include:  Power transformer;  Footings and oil containment system for power transformer;  Pre-fabricated control enclosure to enclose the protection and control equipment;  Footings for the control enclosure structure;  Metering stand;  Capacitor bank;  Busbar and short generator intertie (gen-tie) line;  Circuit breakers and air disconnect switches; and  Dead-end structure to connect the Project substation to a PG&E Switching Station. The Project substations would convert power from 34.5 kV to 230 kV. The Project substation would be transmitted via an estimated 500-foot-long gen-tie into a PG&E Switching Station north of Dinuba Avenue. The substation area would be graded and compacted to an approximately level grade. Concrete pads would be constructed on site as foundations for substation equipment, and the remaining area Recurrent Energy 5 would be graveled. Electrical transformers, switchgear, and related substation facilities would be designed and constructed to transform medium-voltage power to high-voltage power. The substation transformer would contain mineral oil, and the substation would be designed to accommodate an accidental spill of transformer fluid by the use of containment-style mounting. No PCB- laden fluids would be used. 3.5 Telecommunications Within the site, the fiber optic or other cabling required for the monitoring system would typically be installed in buried conduit, leading to a centrally located (or series of appropriately located) SCADA system cabinets. External telecommunications connections to the SCADA system cabinets may be through either wireless or hard wired connections to locally available commercial service providers. Similar to electrical wiring, cable depths would likely be buried at a minimum of 18 inches below grade by excavating a trench wide enough to accommodate the cables and conduit. Excavated soil would likely be used to backfill the trench and be lightly compressed. 3.6 Battery Storage System The Project may include a battery storage system, consisting of battery banks housed in electrical enclosures and buried electrical conduit. Electrical enclosures measuring 40 feet by 8 feet by 8.5 feet high would be installed on concrete foundations designed for secondary containment. 3.7 Meteorological Data Collection System The Solar Facility would include a meteorological (met) data collection system. Each met station would have multiple weather sensors: a pyranometer for measuring solar irradiance, a thermometer to measure air temperature, a barometric pressure sensor, and wind sensors to measure speed and direction. The four-foot horizontal cross-arm of each met system would include the pyranometer mounted on the left hand side and the two wind sensors installed on a vertical mast to the right. The temperature sensor would be mounted inside the solar shield behind the main mast. Each sensor would be connected by cable to a data logger inside the enclosure. 3.8 Operations and Maintenance Building and Electrical Control Building The Project would include development of an O&M building and an electrical control building. The O&M building and control building would be constructed on concrete foundations. 4. Project ’s Useful Life The Project has an expected useful life of 35 years, with an opportunity for a lifetime of 50 years or more, with equipment replacement and repowering. The Project consists of numerous recyclable materials, including glass, semiconductor material, steel, wood, aluminum, copper, and plastics. When the Project reaches the end of its operational life, the component parts can be dismantled and recycled. The Project components will be dismantled and removed using minimal impact conventional construction equipment and recycled or disposed of safely in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations. Recurrent Energy 6 5. Property Ownership The site is presently owned by Westlands Water District. The property owner executed an option agreement for purchase and sale with SiteCo LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Recurrent Energy Development Holdings. Consequently, SiteCo LLC would become the owner of the real property at commencement of construction of the Project. 6. Procedures for Decommissioning After Operations Cease All decommissioning, reclamation, and restoration activities will adhere to the requirements of appropriate governing authorities, and will be in accordance with all applicable federal, provincial, and local permits. The reclamation and restoration process comprises removal of above ground structures; removal of below ground foundations and infrastructure; and restoration of topsoil, re-vegetation, and seeding. Electrical conduit and other materials that break off more than 4 feet below the ground surface would be decommissioned in place. Appropriate temporary (construction-related) erosion and sedimentation control best management practices (BMP) will be used during the reclamation phase of the Project. The BMPs will be inspected on a regular basis to ensure their function. 6.1 Timing for Removal Reclamation of the Project will occur within six (6) months of either: (i) the expiration of a Project’s CUP or (ii) the abandonment of a Project without the Project owner making efforts to cure a disruption of electricity production, whichever occurs first. 6.2 General Removal Process Effectively, the reclamation of the Project proceeds in reverse order of the installation.  The PV facility will be disconnected from the utility power grid.  PV modules will be disconnected, collected, and either shipped to another project, salvaged, or submitted to a collection and recycling program.  Aboveground and underground electrical interconnection and distribution cables that are no longer deemed necessary by the local public utility company will be removed and recycled off- site by an approved recycling facility.  PV module racking system will be removed and recycled off-site by an approved metals recycler.  Electrical and electronic devices, including transformers and inverters will be removed and recycled off-site by an approved recycler.  Concrete foundations will be removed and recycled off-site by a concrete recycler.  Fencing will be removed and will be recycled off-site by an approved recycler.  The only roads constructed at the site will be the interior perimeter fire break roads, which will not be paved but rather compacted and treated to be durable and dustless. The interior roads can either remain onsite for future use, or be removed. Very little gravel will be required onsite; gravel would be repurposed either on- or off-site.  The site may be converted to other uses in accordance with applicable land use regulations in effect at that time of reclamation. There are no permanent changes to the site and it can be Recurrent Energy 7 restored to its original condition including revegetation. Any soil removed for construction purposes will be relocated on the site or used for landscaping after construction is complete. 6.3 Removal of Electrical Equipment, PV Modules, and Infrastructure Above ground electrical wiring, equipment on the inverter pads and the interconnection transformer pad, and other associated equipment will be removed as part of reclamation. Prior to commencing electrical equipment removal activities, the system will be de-energized and all external electrical lines feeding into or out of the Project will be subject to “a lock out/tag out.” The electrical components comprising the inverter pads and interconnection transformer pad will be salvaged and placed in appropriate shipping containers and secured in a truck transport trailer for shipment to the next location where it will be reused. The equipment on the inverter pads includes inverters, combiners, low voltage switch gear and medium voltage transformers. The equipment on the interconnection transformer pad includes medium and high voltage switchgear and a high voltage transformer. All of this is modular and each unit is bolted to a concrete pad. The electrical connectors to each panel will be unfastened along with the combiner boxes and disconnect switches and the bolts and fasteners attaching each module to the racks will be removed. Each module will be removed from the rack and placed in secure transport crates and placed into a trailer for storage and ultimately for transportation to another facility. The bolts and reusable fasteners will be saved for reuse also. Once the solar modules have been removed, the racks will be disassembled and the piers supporting the racks removed. These components will require a track hoe or equivalent piece of machinery to extract the beams by pulling them out vertically. Both the racks and pipes or H-beams will be scraped and sold for salvage value. Rack disassembly involves removing bolts and stacking the rack components for salvage. Underground electrical equipment, including electrical wiring, will be extracted and removed from the site. However, electrical conduit and other materials that break off more than 4 feet below the ground surface would be decommissioned in place. The wiring is either copper or aluminum (depending on the function/location) encapsulated in an insulating plastic material. Electrical materials consist primarily of recyclable commodities. O&M buildings would be disassembled, and recycled or disposed of offsite. Concrete pads supporting inverters, transformers, and O&M buildings will be removed. All fences and gates will be maintained at all times until the equipment decommissioning and removal process is complete and the area is ready to be demobilized. The fence and gate will be removed and all materials recycled to the greatest extent possible. The area will be thoroughly cleaned and all debris removed. 6.4 Use and Removal of Hazardous Materials Relatively small quantities of hazardous materials would be used during project construction and operation. Materials of concern that would be used during construction and operation include gasoline, diesel fuel, inverter coolant, transformer oil, sulfur hexafluoride, and cleaning chemicals. Hazardous and non-hazardous wastes that are likely to be generated from project construction and operation at the Project include waste motor oils, used transformers and transformer oil, waste hydraulic fluids, and waste solvents and adhesives. During decommissioning activities, minor spills and leaks of hazardous materials from vehicles or equipment could also occur. All wastes would be required Recurrent Energy 8 to be handled, stored, transported, and disposed of according to appropriate state and federal laws, ordinances, regulations, and standards. Fuels, lubricants, and other materials would not be stored on the Project site, and the proposed Project applicant would not maintain an inventory of any hazardous materials on the project site. Project operations would not generate hazardous wastes. On-site transformers would be filled with oil at the manufacturing company and subsequently checked in four-year intervals for integrity. Transformers would be mounted with secondary containment foundations to contain oil that may be spilled during replacement, and oils used would be 98 percent plant seed based. Inverter coolant would be routinely and remotely monitored, with replacement expected to occur every 15 years. All oils, lubricants, and spent filters would be collected and removed for recycling at the time of replacement and decommissioning. 6.5 Revegetation Following removal of all solar equipment and related infrastructure, the site will undergo a series of steps to ensure successful revegetation. All topsoil on site will be removed and stockpiled as a first step. The site will then be deep chiseled to a depth of at least 18 inches to remove the compaction resulting from the original construction, O&M activities and from the decommissioning. After chiseling, compost will be applied and the topsoil spread and then the entire site will be disked to further loosen the soil and blend in the compost. As a final step, an appropriate rangeland seed mixture as specified by local authorities will be broadcast or drilled across the site. A weed-free mulch will be spread and crimped into the soil to stabilize soils until germination takes place. Mulching facilitates moisture retention in the soil, improving germination and survival of the seedlings. 7. Site Plans Copies of the latest Site Plans for RE Tranquillity 1-8 may be found in Appendix A. 8. Engineer’s Opinion of Probable Construction Cost To provide a conservative estimate of costs associated with the decommissioning and restoration process, including the equipment and labor for the removal of above-ground structures and site reclamation, Recurrent Energy has engaged with established construction and engineering firms to identify the number of employees and equipment types required to remove Project elements. Table 2 identifies costs for equipment and labor to remove improvements associated with the Project. As noted above, the Project would be surrounded by, and adjacent to, up to 7 other solar projects totaling 400 MW in all. The Project is anticipated to be decommissioned and the site reclaimed on a similar schedule to and/or sequentially with the RE Tranquillity 1 LLC, RE Tranquillity 2 LLC, RE Tranquillity 4 LLC, RE Tranquillity 5 LLC, RE Tranquillity 6 LLC, RE Tranquillity 7 LLC, and RE Tranquillity 8 LLC projects. As a result, economies of scale would be realized from worker and equipment efficiencies during site decommissioning and reclamation, and there is an estimated 10% cost decrease per 20 MW. Recurrent Energy 9 Table 2: Labor and Equipment Costs for Project Reclamation 9. Financial Assurances The Applicant will establish and maintain a Letter of Credit from a state or national financial institution in the amount of $86,909 prior to issuance of building permits for each Phase to be maintained throughout the life of the Project. The dollar amount will be adjusted on an annual basis to reflect a 3 percent increase in the financial security associated with decommissioning. In lieu of a letter of credit or as a replacement of the letter of credit during the project life, RE Tranquillity 3 LLC may establish and maintain a Bond, Cash Payment, or Decommissioning Reserve Account to be managed by a third-party financial institution determined by the Project’s financiers. Automatic routing of PPA payments into the Decommissioning Reserve Account would occur throughout the Project’s life. RE Tranquillity 3 LLC would notify Fresno County of its election to establish this account thirty (30) days in advance and would provide all necessary documentation in advance for staff’s review and approval. Since both the County and the landowner have an interest in decommissioning the facility after operations or in the unlikely event it is abandoned, the third party financial institution responsible for managing the Decommissioning Reserve Account would have a contractual obligation to the landowners not to release funds from the Decommissioning Reserve Account other than for payment of costs associated with decommissioning. The detailed terms and conditions under which the funds would be permitted to be released from the Decommissioning Reserve Account would be explicitly defined in an Escrow Account Agreement executed by the project owner, the land owner and the selected third party institution. 10. Record of Owner ’s Notice of Proposed Reclamation Plan As discussed under Section 4, SiteCo LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Recurrent Energy Development Holdings LLC, will be purchasing the real property from the current property owner (Westlands Water District) prior to the start of construction. Given that the current property owner will no longer have an ownership interest in the real property once construction commences, the owner has not been notified of the proposed reclamation plan. Acres: 163 MW: 15 Total Costs Workers Days Hours Labor rate Subtotal Equipment/ fee Hours or number of units Rates Subtotal Costs 1 2 16 $ 50 $ 800 Container 0.75 $ 1,250 $ 938 1,738$ 2 2 32 $ 75 $ 2,400 low bed truck/ semi end dump truck 12 22$ 264$ 2,664$ 3 9 216 $ 75 $ 16,200 flat bed truck 30 32$ 960$ 17,160$ 3 10 240 $ 50 $ 12,000 flat bed truck 37.5 32$ 1,200$ 13,200$ 3 9 216 $ 50 $ 10,800 backhoe 67.5 162$ 10,935$ 21,735$ 2 5 80 $ 75 $ 6,000 backhoe/ crane 18.75 400$ 7,500$ 13,500$ 2 4 64 $ 40 $ 2,560 backhoe 18.75 162$ 3,038$ 5,598$ 2 4 64 $ 40 $ 2,560 cat/ backhoe 15 194$ 2,910$ 5,470$ 2 4 64 $ 40 $ 2,560 cat/ water truck 22.5 146$ 3,285$ 5,845$ Subtotal $ 55,880 Subtotal 31,029$ $ 86,909 Site disced for revegetation Electrical interconnection and PV modules removed and recycled PV module support H-beams and Electrical and electronic devices, Fencing, gates removed and recycled Roads, pathways, and other Substation components removed and recycled Labor Costs Equipment Costs Reclamation Task Onsite oils, lubricants, removed Appendix A – RE Tranquillity 1-8 LLC Site Plans NOT A PARTRERRREERRETRANQUILLITYTTRTRARAANNQQQUUILILLLLILITTYYU222222222LLCLLLLCCLLCLLLCLCNOT A PART 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 069923\8542832v3 Exhibit B-1 EXHIBIT B The Property [See Attached] AMARILLO LEGAL DESCRIPTION April 04, 2017 EXHIBIT ‘A’ Amarillo Lease Area A portion of the North half of Section 2 located within a portion of the North half of Section 2, Township 16 South, Range 14 East, MDBM, County of Fresno, State of California, described as follows: Lots 1, 2, 3, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 31 and 32 1n Section 2, Township 16 South, Range 14 East, MDBM, in the County of Fresno, State of California, according to the map of a part of California Land Investment Company's Tract No. 1, recorded May 8, 1912 in Book 7, Page 49 of Record of Surveys, Fresno County Records; together with that portion of Los Angeles Avenue, vacated per Resolution No. 16-289, recorded July 12, 2016 as Document No. 2016-0089497, adjacent to said lots 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 which would pass by operation of law, as described in Notice of Merger VM 2050 recorded by the County of Fresno Department of Public Works and Planning recorded on July 7, 2016 as Instrument No. 20160087449, as amended by Notice of Merger VM 2050 recorded on July 19, 2016 as Instrument No. 20160092839 as amended by Notice of Merger VM 2050 recorded on August 25, 2016 as Instrument No. 20160113308 of Official Records. Lease Area contains a net area of 198.66 acres, more or less. The Basis of Bearings for this description is NAD 83, California State Plane Coordinate System, Zone 4, epoch date 2011, based on GPS ties to the California High Precision Geodetic Network (HPGN) stations 125.31l (PID-GU0884) and 117.47l (PID-GU0937). 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 069923\8542832v3 Exhibit C-1-1 EXHIBIT C Form of Easement [See Attached] AFTER RECORDING PLEASE RETURN TO: DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DIVISION, MAIL STOP 214 ATTN: CHRIS MOTTA Recording Requested for the Benefit of the County of Fresno Department of Public Works & Planning THIS SPACE FOR RECORDER’S OFFICE USE ONLY GRANT OF LIMITED ACCESS EASEMENT (“Easement”) I. RECITALS A. On October 9, 2014, pursuant to County of Fresno (“COUNTY”) Resolution No. 12466, subject to the conditions listed therein, the COUNTY’s Planning Commission certified Environmental Impact Report No. 6730 for the Tranquillity Solar Generation Facility approving eight separate conditional use permits, Unclassified Conditional Use Permit (“CUP”) Nos. 3451 through 3458. The Planning Commission conditioned its approval of the Project on, among other things, compliance with that certain Reclamation Plan: RE Tranquillity 2 LLC, UCUP Application Number 3452, dated August 2014 and that certain Reclamation Plan: RE Tranquillity 3 LLC, UCUP Application Number 3453, dated August 2014 (collectively, the “Reclamation Plan”), stipulating to the process for the decommissioning of the Project. B. RE Tranquillity 8 Amarillo LLC (“Owner”) will undertake the performance of a component of the Project described in CUP Nos. 3452-3453, consisting of the construction and operation of a solar photovoltaic power plant capable of generating up to twenty (20) megawatts (“MW”) (the “Project”). The Amarillo Project is approximately One Hundred Ninety Eight and 66/100 (198.66) acres (consisting of one (1) parcel), the legal descriptions of which are set forth in Attachment A, attached hereto and incorporated herein by this reference (collectively, the “Property”). In order to secure its obligations under the Reclamation Plan, Owner and COUNTY have entered into a written agreement (the “Reclamation Agreement”) by which Owner 2 covenants to, among other things, fully comply with all provisions of the Reclamation Plan, and provide and maintain security for these obligations in the form of cash security. C. CUP Nos. 3452-3452 have a term of Forty (40) years, which COUNTY may extend in its sole discretion, or terminate in accordance with the provisions of applicable law. D. RE TRANQUILLITY 8 AMARILLO LANDCO LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“GRANTOR”) is the owner of the Property. E. Owner informs COUNTY that Owner and GRANTOR intend to enter into a lease agreement (the “Lease”), which will grant possession of the Property to Owner and permit Owner to operate the Project on the Property pursuant to CUP Nos. 3452-3453. I. The Reclamation Plan and the Reclamation Agreement require Owner to decommission the solar photovoltaic power plant at (i) the expiration or termination of CUP Nos. 3452-3453 or (ii) the abandonment of the Project without the Project owner making efforts to cure a disruption of electricity production, whichever occurs first, and reclaim the Property to its condition before the Project was constructed. J. Owner is securing its obligations under the Reclamation Agreement by establishing and maintaining a cash security with COUNTY. In the event Owner defaults under the Reclamation Agreement, COUNTY may draw on the cash security and use the proceeds thereof to carry out the reclamation of the Property in substantial conformity with the Reclamation Plan. K. In the event COUNTY elects, in its sole discretion, to carry out the Reclamation Plan, COUNTY must have the right to access the Property. L. GRANTOR recognizes that it will benefit from granting such access to COUNTY, should Owner default under the Reclamation Agreement, and COUNTY elect to draw on the cash security and use the proceeds thereof to carry out the reclamation of the Property in substantial conformity with the Reclamation Plan. 3 II. Grant of Limited Easement 1. GRANTOR hereby grants to COUNTY, including its contractors and representatives, a nonexclusive access easement over, under, on, and across the Property (the “Easement”), solely for accessing the Property for the limited purpose of, in COUNTY’s sole discretion, carrying out the reclamation of the Property in substantial conformity with the Reclamation Plan, pursuant to the Reclamation Agreement, and for no other purpose. 2. Grantor expressly reserves for itself, its successors and its assigns, the right to use the Property or to grant other licenses or easements on the Property, so long as such uses do not unreasonably interfere with the rights herein granted. 3. This Easement shall, without further action by any person or entity, terminate and be of no further force or effect upon the earlier of: a. The termination of the Reclamation Agreement; or b. COUNTY’s issuance of written notice to GRANTOR that COUNTY will not undertake or complete reclamation of the Property. 4. This Easement is subject to all superior matters of title on the Property and recorded in the COUNTY Official Records, including without limitation any and all liens, encumbrances, covenants, conditions, restrictions, reservations, contracts, leases, licenses, easements, and rights of way. 5. This Easement shall bind and inure to the benefit of the successors and assigns of the parties hereto. However, nothing contained herein shall be deemed to grant the public any right of access to the Property or to grant any rights in any third party. 6. This Easement may be executed in counterparts, which, when taken together, shall constitute one complete instrument. 7. This Easement, and the rights granted herein, shall be interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of California. 4 8. The Recitals above are incorporated herein by reference as though fully set forth herein. Further, OWNER states that the above Recitals are to be taken as statements of OWNER only and not of Grantor. Date ________________________ GRANTOR: RE TRANQUILLITY 8 AMARILLO LANDCO LLC, a Delaware limited liability company By ___________________________________ Print Name_____________________________ Print Title______________________________ 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: By executing below, RE TRANQUILLITY 8 AMARILLO LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, for it and its successors and assigns, acknowledges and agrees to the terms and conditions contained herein, including without limitation, Section 8. RE TRANQUILLITY 8 AMARILLO LLC, a Delaware limited liability company By ______________________________ Print Name_______________________ Print Title_________________________ [NOTARY PAGES ATTACHED] STATE OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF _______________ On _________________, 2017, before me, _________________________, a Notary Public, personally appeared _________________________, who proved to me on the basis of satisfactory evidence to be the person(s) whose name(s) is/are subscribed to the within instrument and acknowledged to me that he/she/they executed the same in his/her/their authorized capacity(ies), and that by his/her/their signature(s) on the instrument the person(s), or the entity upon behalf of which the person(s) acted, executed the instrument. I certify under PENALTY OF PERJURY under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing paragraph is true and correct. WITNESS my hand and official seal. Signature of the Notary Public A notary public or other officer completing this certificate verifies only the identity of the individual who signed the document to which this certificate is attached, and not the truthfulness, accuracy, or validity of that document. STATE OF _______________ COUNTY OF _______________ On _________________, 2017, before me, _________________________, a Notary Public, personally appeared _________________________, who proved to me on the basis of satisfactory evidence to be the person(s) whose name(s) is/are subscribed to the within instrument and acknowledged to me that he/she/they executed the same in his/her/their authorized capacity(ies), and that by his/her/their signature(s) on the instrument the person(s), or the entity upon behalf of which the person(s) acted, executed the instrument. I certify under PENALTY OF PERJURY under the laws of the State of _________ that the foregoing paragraph is true and correct. WITNESS my hand and official seal. Signature of the Notary Public A notary public or other officer completing this certificate verifies only the identity of the individual who signed the document to which this certificate is attached, and not the truthfulness, accuracy, or validity of that document. ATTACHMENT A LEGAL DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPERTY [PLEASE SEE ATTACHED] AMARILLO LEGAL DESCRIPTION April 04, 2017 EXHIBIT ‘A’ Amarillo Lease Area A portion of the North half of Section 2 located within a portion of the North half of Section 2, Township 16 South, Range 14 East, MDBM, County of Fresno, State of California, described as follows: Lots 1, 2, 3, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 31 and 32 1n Section 2, Township 16 South, Range 14 East, MDBM, in the County of Fresno, State of California, according to the map of a part of California Land Investment Company's Tract No. 1, recorded May 8, 1912 in Book 7, Page 49 of Record of Surveys, Fresno County Records; together with that portion of Los Angeles Avenue, vacated per Resolution No. 16-289, recorded July 12, 2016 as Document No. 2016-0089497, adjacent to said lots 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 which would pass by operation of law, as described in Notice of Merger VM 2050 recorded by the County of Fresno Department of Public Works and Planning recorded on July 7, 2016 as Instrument No. 20160087449, as amended by Notice of Merger VM 2050 recorded on July 19, 2016 as Instrument No. 20160092839 as amended by Notice of Merger VM 2050 recorded on August 25, 2016 as Instrument No. 20160113308 of Official Records. Lease Area contains a net area of 198.66 acres, more or less. The Basis of Bearings for this description is NAD 83, California State Plane Coordinate System, Zone 4, epoch date 2011, based on GPS ties to the California High Precision Geodetic Network (HPGN) stations 125.31l (PID-GU0884) and 117.47l (PID-GU0937).