Construction starting soon on SRP battery storage facility in West Valley
Construction is set to begin soon on a new Salt River Project battery storage facility coming to the West Valley.
The Sierra Estrella Energy Storage facility, off South Avondale Boulevard north of West Broadway Road, is a collaborative project between SRP and Houston-based Plus Power LLC to store power to handle customer demand during peak usage times.
Once up and running in 2024, SRP said in its announcement this week that it will be the largest standalone battery facility in Arizona and will store up to 250 megawatts, or 1,000 megawatt hours, of energy.
“This facility will have enough stored energy to power more than 56,000 average size homes for a four-hour period,” said Grant Smedley, director of resource planning at SRP, in a statement. “Battery storage can help provide energy to the grid when other resources may not be available and is part of SRP’s overarching strategy to meet rising energy demand while reducing carbon emissions.”
Officials from Avondale, SRP and Plus Power held a groundbreaking event at the site this week, saying that over the course of construction it should generate 30-40 construction jobs.
SRP announced last fall that it would be working with Plus Power on this project as well as a 90-megawatt one in Gilbert, both of which will be owned by a Plus Power subsidiary. The grid-charged stations will use Tesla lithium-ion technology, and Plus Power has taken charge of designing, building and operating the sites.
“We are thrilled to partner with SRP on the Sierra Estrella battery storage project, and to contribute to local grid reliability with job and tax benefits for Avondale and the nearby communities,” said Molly Emerson, Director of Project Development at Plus Power, in a statement. “Plus Power’s projects represent a bold step forward for the Southwest energy market, and will act as a cornerstone of our growing portfolio of operating projects.”
Plus Power also said it is coordinating with the Avondale Fire Department to prepare an emergency response plan for the station. That will include onsite training for first responders.
When the partnership with Plus Power was first announced, SRP said the addition of the East and West Valley stations and battery technology will bring SRP’s total battery storage capacity to 800 megawatts by 2024 — more than 10% of SRP’s anticipated 2024 peak-hour electricity demand and enough to power more than 180,000 average size homes.
The utility has said it will continue to develop storage technologies as part of its commitment to reduce carbon intensity by more than 65% by 2035 and 90% by 2050. Other recent projects toward that end include the second phase of a solar generation facility at the Copper Crossing Energy and Research Center in Florence, southeast of Mesa, a large solar solar plant north of Flagstaff and a wind turbine facility in the same area.
SRP serves more than a million customers, primarily in and around the Valley.