Salt River Project is continuing to quickly increase its battery storage capacity. The utility this week announced plans for a new battery facility in Coolidge.
SRP is the largest electricity provider for the Phoenix area. The utility expects it will need to double its generating resources within the next 10 years to meet growing demand while phasing out coal power. SRP also hopes to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Grant Smedley, SRP’s director of resource planning, acquisition and development, said as the utility begins to rely more on renewable resources like solar power, batteries are becoming a more essential part of the portfolio.
“What batteries enable us to do is to store that solar in the middle of the day and then to discharge that energy to serve our customers in the times when they need energy most,” Smedley said.
SRP currently has about 1,100 megawatts of battery storage capacity, most of which has come online just in the last few years, Smedley said.
“We have ramped up significantly and we now have eight facilities online serving our customers today and we’ll be adding a lot more in the future. So SRP is really excited to be adding these clean energy resources to our growing portfolio,” Smedley said.
The new Flatland Energy Storage Project in Coolidge will add 200 megawatts of capacity by the end of 2025 or early 2026. That’s enough to power about 45,000 homes for about four hours, according to SRP.
The site will be part of a solar power facility that was completed earlier this year. The site will be owned and operated by the company EDP Renewables North America, but SRP will purchase 100% of the energy produced from the system.
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The new agreement is on top of other solar plans the utility has as it aims to double its generating capacity.
