NextEra and Salt River Project Commission Arizona BESS Addition

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--NextEra Energy Incorporated (NYSE:NEE) (Juno Beach, Florida) and Salt River Project (SRP) (Tempe, Arizona), Arizona's second-largest utility, have commissioned a battery energy storage system (BESS) that will add energy storage to an operational solar plant in Arizona. Industrial Info is tracking additional renewable energy development from NextEra in the Grand Canyon State, including three other projects that also will provide contracted power to SRP.

The 100-megawatt (MW), $100 million BESS addition will help support the approximately 250-MW Saint Solar energy center in Coolidge, Arizona, in between Pheonix and Tucson, by providing power in times of high demand or when the sun isn't shining. Saint Solar, which is operated by NextEra subsidiary NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, has been serving SRP's commercial customers since 2020, SRP said in a press release. Saint Solar is currently delivering solar generation to 11 such customers. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can click here for a project report on the BESS addition.

But Saint Solar is not the only solar-plus-storage facility that is providing, or will provide, contracted power to SRP. When operational in 2024, the Sonoran Energy Center, near Buckeye, will feature the largest operational BESS in the state. The 250-MW BESS will utilize Tesla Incorporated's (NASDAQ:TSLA) (Austin, Texas) "Megapack" lithium-ion battery technology, and the solar plant will provide about 250 MW of generation by utilizing about 1.2 million photovoltaic (PV) panels. Both projects are in the late stage of construction, with Moss & Associates Construction Company LLC (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) providing engineering, procurement and construction services. Subscribers can click here for the report on the solar facility and here for the report on the BESS.

Another SRP-contracted solar-plus-storage facility from NextEra is the Storey Energy Center, operating in Coolidge. The solar plant utilizes more than 300,000 solar panels from First Solar Incorporated (NASDAQ:FSLR) (Tempe, Arizona) to provide 88 MW of power, and an accompanying BESS with Tesla's technology provides another 88 MW. Click here to read the related project reports.

Lastly, the Babbitt Ranch Energy Center, near Flagstaff, features an under-construction, 161-MW, $166 million windfarm, which will utilize General Electric (NYSE:GE) (Boston, Massachusetts) turbines, as well as a proposed 60-MW solar farm and 60-MW BESS. The wind project is expected to wrap up around late 2024, while the solar and BESS projects are tentatively expected to begin construction in 2024 and 2027, respectively. Subscribers can read detailed reports on the wind, BESS and solar projects.

NextEra's BESS capacity additions support the growing grid-scale battery-storage market in the U.S., which added more than 2,100 MW of capacity in the third quarter, according to a recent report by the American Clean Power Association (ACP) (Washington, D.C.) and Wood Mackenzie (Edinburgh, Scotland). For more information, see December 15, 2023, article - Report: U.S. Adds Record Grid-Scale Energy Storage Capacity in Q3.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project and Plant databases can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).