Salt River Project greenlights massive Pinal County energy center with solar, gas and storage
The Salt River Project gave the go-ahead this week for development of a massive energy generation and storage project to be built in Pinal County.
The project, called the Marigold Energy Center, will be located on various parcels of land around the unincorporated community of Stanfield, about 12 miles west of Casa Grande. Once built, it will include 600 megawatts of solar generation capacity, 400 megawatts of eight-hour battery storage capacity and 675 megawatts of natural gas generation capacity.
Additionally, the project calls for a 230-kilovolt/500-kilovolt substation and about four miles of new 230-kilovolt transmission lines. Siting for those transmission lines is still to be determined; a public hearing on that topic is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Sept. 21 at Francisco Grande Hotel & Golf Resort at 12684 W. Gila Bend Highway. Public comment will be taken — in person or remotely — starting at 5:30 p.m. that same day. Details can be found here.
SRP, a nonprofit utility that serves approximately 1.2 million customers, mostly in the Valley, highlighted the project as a key component in its efforts to meet its 2035 Sustainability Goals for carbon and water reduction while keeping up with exploding demand by more than doubling power capacity while maintaining affordability.
“The combination of resources at Marigold Energy Center represent a balanced system approach to providing affordable, reliable and sustainable power to meet increasing customer demand during all hours of the day and night,” said Bobby Olsen, SRP Associate General Manager and Chief Power System Executive. “Added investments in transmission infrastructure will further strengthen grid flexibility and help support continued growth across central Arizona.”
The development still remains subject to approval of a certificate of environmental compatibility from the Arizona Corporation Commissionfor the natural gas and transmission components. SRP said it has filed for that certificate and expects a decision from the ACC in November.
SRP said that regional public power utility Electrical District No. 3 — which serves Stanfield, Maricopa and the surrounding area — is considering a partnership with SRP to use some of the energy from the Marigold center.
The battery energy storage component of the project will add to the increasing capacity in Arizona, which recently was ranked No. 1 in the nation for growth in battery storage capacity. Other upcoming storage projects include a handful around the West Valley.
During peak construction, the project is expected to create between 300 and 400 jobs, and once completed, up to 45 full-time positions may be created at the site, SRP said.