Arizona-based public power utility Salt River Project (SRP) has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) for a grid-scale, integrated solar and battery storage project that will be located in Pinal County, Ariz. Under the PPA, SRP will purchase all of the energy produced at the Pinal Central Energy Center, located near Coolidge.
A subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources will build and own the single-axis tracking, 20 MW solar photovoltaic generation facility at the site and combine it with a 10 MW lithium-ion energy storage system. According to SRP, 20 MW is about enough energy to serve 5,000 average residential homes, and the solar plant will be used to charge the battery so it can deliver energy when the sun is not shining. The project is expected to begin operations by the end of this year.
SRP says effective battery storage could assist the utility in meeting peak customer demand and will optimize solar energy output in the future if the technology is determined to be efficient and economical.
“This project will give us valuable experience with large-scale battery storage operations,” states SRP General Manager and CEO Mark Bonsall. “It is our hope that this technology will prove to be an important part of our energy portfolio as we continue to seek sustainable resources to serve our customers.”
As part of a competitive solicitation process, SRP’s board also approved a second separate grid-scale battery storage project for a 10 MW battery with four hours of storage charged from the grid. SRP’s partner in this effort will be announced once a PPA is finalized.
The SRP board has set a goal to meet 20% of SRP’s retail electricity requirements through sustainable resources by the year 2020. Currently, SRP is on schedule to meet the goal of delivering 15.9% of retail requirements through sustainable resources by the end of the fiscal year by using solar, wind, geothermal, hydro power and energy-efficiency measures.
