US power company PacifiCorp has released plans to deploy 2,800MW of battery storage to cope with increases in its renewable energy penetration as it looks to close 20 coal power stations by 2038
Nearly 600MW of battery storage will be deployed by 2025 with the remaining capacity set to be installed by 2038 as the Oregon firm plans to close all but four of its coal-fired power station.
The power plant retirements will reduce coal-fuelled generation capacity by nearly 2.8GW by 2030 and by nearly 4.5GW in the next eight years.
The draft “preferred portfolio” for the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) includes investments in wind generation and transmission, while adding solar and storage resources. PacifiCorp will file its final 2019 IRP with state regulatory commissions by October 18.
Rick Link, PacifiCorp’s vice president of resource planning and acquisitions, said: “This plan reflects the on-going cost pressure on coal as wind generation, solar generation and storage have emerged as low-cost resource options for our customers.”
All of the storage resources planned by 2025 are to be paired with new solar generation. The new solar and storage resources include:
· 3GW of new solar in Utah paired with 635MW of battery storage, phased in between 2020 and 2037
· 1,415 MW of new solar in Wyoming paired with 354MW of battery storage, phased in between 2024 and 2038
· 1,075 MW of new solar in Oregon paired with 244MW of battery storage, phased in between 2020 and 2033
· 814 MW of new solar in Washington paired with 204MW of battery storage, phased in between 2024 and 2036