A Danish corporation is constructing a large solar farm in the Arizona desert, which incorporates battery storage that collects and redistributes energy to the electric grid during periods of sunlight and darkness.

The combination of batteries and sustainable energy is a rapidly developing solution for mitigating climate change.

The CEO of Ørsted, Mads Nipper, stated that solar farms only generate energy during sunny hours and turbines only produce when there is wind. In order to fully utilize the availability of green energy at all times, storage is necessary.

The use of batteries in the United States is quickly growing, especially lithium-ion batteries, to store a significant amount of energy. These batteries are often being used in conjunction with solar and wind projects, such as those in Arizona. Those responsible for managing electric grids, utility companies, and those involved in the development of renewable energy sources all agree that combining these technologies is crucial for a more environmentally-friendly future.

Batteries enable the use of renewable energy sources to replace non-renewable resources like oil, gas, and coal. They provide a reliable source of power during periods when wind and solar energy production is low. For instance, at night when electricity usage is reduced, excess wind energy can be stored in batteries and utilized during peak hours of demand during the day.

Juan Mendez, a Tempe, Arizona resident, receives electricity from the local utility Salt River Project. This company is working with Ørsted to build the Eleven Mile Solar Center. As a senator in the state, Mendez advocated for SRP to transition to renewable sources of energy.

He believes that the energy corporation is placing excessive emphasis on gas and coal plants, including an extensive project for a natural gas facility in Coolidge, Arizona, which is in close proximity to the solar facility.

Mendez stated that the solar-plus-storage initiative is a positive move, but SRP should make additional efforts towards offering renewable energy, reducing air pollution, and combating climate change.

The company announced that it will increase the amount of clean energy in its energy mix and has promised to completely eliminate its emissions by 2050.

The United States holds the second largest amount of stored electricity globally, closely behind China. In the year 2023, an approximate 7.5 gigawatts were added, which is a 62% increase compared to 2022. This information was reported by BloombergNEF and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy factbook.

According to BloombergNEF, this quantity has the ability to supply electricity for 750,000 households for a day. Additionally, this contributes to the overall installed capacity in the country, which is close to being sufficient for powering 2 million homes for one day.

California is the leader in energy storage in the United States due to its strong efforts towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It has double the amount of energy storage compared to any other state. Within the span of four years, there has been a 757% increase in battery installations for residential, commercial, and utility-scale use. This means that there is now enough energy storage to power 6.6 million homes for up to four hours, according to the California Energy Commission.

This is partially due to the California Public Utilities Commission’s mandate in 2013, which required utilities to invest in energy storage by 2020. As a result, power companies have been increasing their use of batteries to assist the state in meeting its clean energy goals.

One energy provider in Southern California, Southern California Edison, is incorporating a significant amount of energy storage. The company is installing a combination of solar panels and batteries to replace the use of certain power plants that run on natural gas and normally generate electricity during the evening.

According to William Walsh, vice president for energy procurement and management, having a clean energy source that is not reliable is not enough. Both cleanliness and reliability are necessary.

In September 2022, batteries demonstrated their worth in California when the Western region faced a prolonged heat wave causing temperatures to reach triple digits.

On September 6, 2022, the demand for electricity in the state hit an all-time high as individuals turned up their air conditioners.

According to Walsh, the inclusion of batteries into the power system from 2020 to 2022 played a crucial role in preventing power failures. In 2018, California experienced frequent power cuts during a comparable period of high temperatures.

Texas ranks second in terms of battery storage, following California. Recently, Schneider Electric revealed a partnership with ENGIE North America to implement solar and battery systems in Texas. This initiative moves the French multinational corporation closer towards their target of achieving 100% renewable energy in the United States and Canada. According to Hans Royal, Schneider Electric’s senior director for renewable energy and carbon advisory, this collaboration and the required $80 million investment would not have been feasible before the Inflation Reduction Act, a significant climate law passed in 2022.

Royal is advising other global Fortune 500 companies it works with to get into the market.

Royal stated that both the industry and the grid require this.

Ørsted’s Eleven Mile Solar Center, located in rural Pinal County, Arizona, spans over 2,000 acres and is home to 857,000 solar panels and over 2,000 cubic storage containers. Other solar and storage projects by Ørsted can also be found in Texas, Alabama, and Europe.

When the Arizona facility begins operating in the summer, the majority of electricity generated from the solar farm will be directed to Meta’s data center in Mesa, which is owned by Facebook. Any excess solar power not required by Meta, as well as the energy stored in the batteries, will be distributed to the customer’s of the local utility. These new batteries have the capacity to provide power to approximately 65,000 households during periods of high demand.

According to Yayoi Sekine, BloombergNEF’s energy storage head, the fast pace of this market is quite thrilling. The pressure for the U.S. and various regions to reduce carbon emissions is driving the demand for storage, which is a crucial technology in achieving this goal. The market has a lot of momentum behind it.

Source: voanews.com