US Arizona’s electrical utility Salt River Project (SRP) has signed a 20-year power purchase contract for a grid-scale, integrated solar and battery project that will be located in Pinal County.
A subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources, a wholesale electricity supplier in Florida, will construct and own the Pinal Central Energy Centre, which will consist of a single-axis tracking, 20MW solar photovoltaic generation facility, and a 10MW lithium-ion energy storage system.
The solar plant that will be used to charge the battery for SRP is expected to begin operations by the end of 2017, with an approximate estimate of supplying energy to 5,000 average residential homes.
“This project will give us valuable experience with large-scale battery storage operations,” said SRP General Manager and Chief Executive Officer 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 10MW battery with four hours of storage charged from the grid. SRP’s partner in this effort will be announced once a power-purchase agreement is finalized.