Salt River Project (SRP) and Flatland Storage, a subsidiary of EDP Renewables North America have entered into an agreement to provide 200 megawatts (MW) of new energy storage to Arizona’s grid.
The Flatland Energy Storage Project will be a 200 MW/800 megawatt-hour battery energy storage system located near Coolidge, Arizona. The project will utilize lithium-ion technology, designed and manufactured in the U.S. by Tesla. Scheduled to be online in 2025, the facility will have enough capacity to power up to 45,000 homes for four hours during peak electricity demand periods. The batteries will absorb excess energy when customer demand is lower and store it for use during times of peak demand. In addition, Flatland will save more than 169 million gallons of water each year compared to traditional energy dispatched onto the grid.
“Battery energy storage is an essential piece of SRP’s plan to decarbonize our portfolio and maximize the amount of renewable energy delivered to our customers,” said Bobby Olsen, SRP Associate General Manager and Chief Planning, Strategy and Sustainability Executive. “The Flatland Energy Storage Project will help us meet the increasing energy demand of one of the fastest growing areas of the nation.”
Flatland Energy Storage Project is set to provide significant benefits to the local regional economy, with a capital investment of over $271 million, and an additional $7 million paid to local governments in the form of tax payments. Millions of dollars will also be spent supporting local small businesses during the lifetime of the project, which will create 60 construction jobs and host two permanent operations positions upon completion. In addition, Flatland is being seen as contributing to national energy security for the state of Arizona, as well as the broader United States, helping diversify domestic power supply.
This is SRP’s second project in partnership with EDPR NA. The first, Brittlebush Solar Park, provides 200 MW of solar energy to SRP customers. The Flatland Energy Storage Project is located within the Brittlebush Solar Park. The location will allow the battery to store energy from the grid or from the solar facility to best match the output to times of highest customer demand.
“We’re excited to be partnering with SRP on the largest utility-scale storage project in the EDP Group’s global portfolio to date,” added Sandhya Ganapathy, CEO of EDP Renewables North America. “Storage is key to modernizing the US power grid and is a requisite in accelerating the adoption of renewable energy, while boosting grid reliability and resiliency.”
SRP was an early adopter of battery storage technology, which is helping the organization meet growing peak demand and complements firm resources like flexible natural gas to maintain reliable and affordable power for customers.
SRP is continuing to develop and deploy safe, cost-effective storage technology as part of the company’s commitment to reducing carbon intensity (from 2005 levels) by 82 percent by 2035 and achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Through its Integrated System Plan, SRP found it will need to at least double the number of generating resources on its power system in the next 10 years to meet increasing energy demand in the Phoenix metropolitan area as it moves forward with the planned retirement of 1,300 MW of coal resources.
SRP currently has nearly 1,300 MW of storage and nearly 3,000 megawatts of carbon-free resources online and serving customers. SRP also has significantly more solar energy and storage capacity under development, which, when operational by 2028, will make nearly half of SRP’s generation carbon free.
