Portland General Electric (PGE) and NextEra Energy Resources are planning to construct a new energy project in Eastern Oregon, described as the “nation’s first major energy facility co-locating wind, solar and battery storage”.
The Wheatridge Renewable Energy project will combine 300MW of wind generation, 50MW of solar, and 30 MW of battery storage, which will be the largest storage facility in the state of Oregon.
The wind generation will come from 120 wind turbines, manufactured by GE Renewable Energy. “The specific equipment to be used at the associated solar farm and battery storage facility is still to be determined, the project partners said.
Development on the Wheatridge project— then Wheatridge wind farm— began in 2009 by Swaggart Wind Power. A subsidiary of NextEra acquired the project in 2017, and now NextEra and PGE have together expanded its scope to include solar generation and battery storage.
US Senator Ron Wyden described the project update as both “a well-earned economic boost to Eastern Oregon” and “an important step on our country’s needed path to green energy.”
The wind component of the facility will be fully operation by December 2020, with construction of the solar and storage components planned for 2021.
PGE is expecting to invest US$160 million in the project, which will be funded with the assistance of federal investment tax credits.