Arizona-based municipal utility Salt River Project connected its largest battery storage facility into the grid this month.
SRP has placed the 25-MW energy storage facility into service at its Bolster Substation, which is adjacent to the gas-fired Agua Fria Generating Station. The fully charged battery site can power about 5,600 homes for close to four hours, according to reports.
The Bolster energy storage plant consists of Tesla Megapack large-scale batteries connected directly into SRP’s grid. SRP called it the largest stand-alone battery storage system in Arizona.
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“Battery storage is an extremely important and growing component of SRP’s 2035 sustainability goals to reduce our carbon footprint,” said Kelly Barr, SRP’s chief strategy, corporate services and sustainability executive, in a statement earlier this month. “The Bolster Substation Battery System adds to our already considerable investment in battery storage and further allows us to offset carbon-emitting resources by storing energy and providing it to our customers when they need it most.”
SRP plans to add 2,025 MW of utility-scale solar energy by 2025. Large batteries can take in excess solar-generated power when the sun is brightest and demand relatively low during the day.
In addition to the new Bolster Substation Battery System in Peoria, SRP receives power and collects data from two pilot battery storage projects. These include the Pinal Central Solar Energy Center, a 20-MW, integrated solar energy, and battery storage plant in Casa Grande and the Dorman battery storage system a 10-MW, 40-MWh stand-alone battery storage system in Chandler.
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