NV Energy signed a 22-year power purchase agreement on EDF Renewables North America‘s Chuckwalla Solar+Storage Project, a 200-MWac photovoltaic and 180-MW, four-hour under-construction system in Nevada. The project expects to come online by the end of 2023 and deliver enough clean electricity annually to power 45,000 average Nevada homes.
The project is located on the Moapa Band of Paiute Indians Reservation, 35 miles northeast of Las Vegas in Clark County, Nevada. The project will benefit the Moapa Tribe and local community over its operating life through land lease, tax and other payments and approximately 300 temporary construction-related jobs.
By coupling the solar facility with an energy storage solution, electricity produced during peak solar hours can be dispatched later in the day, thereby creating a balance between electricity generation and demand. Energy storage can further smooth electricity prices, manage evening energy ramps, mitigate curtailment and provide grid stability.
“EDF Renewables is pleased to strengthen our relationship with NV Energy, building on our 2019 agreement to develop and build the Arrow Canyon Solar+Storage project,” said Ian Black, VP of West Region Development at EDF Renewables North America. “The battery and solar system work together to provide more energy during the summer evening peak hours, when system needs are the greatest. NV Energy can utilize the battery at their discretion in all months of the year allowing mitigation of demand spikes.”
News item from EDF Renewables
Solarman says
In the early push for solar PV and wind generation, the utilities were “convinced” to sign PPAs to create the long term stability that attracts investors. In the 2003 to 2010 solar PV push in California a lot of capacity was built in the desert in Riverside County CA. The electric utilities realized that large amounts of solar PV could drive down the cost of electricity to negative cost per MWh generated, so comes along the “duck curve”.
These same utilities balked at signing more PPAs for solar PV or wind generation in the 100’s MWp. Where’s the value if you have to “curtail” the non-fueled generation almost daily? So, finishing the planned 2GW plus generation capacity in Riverside County got sidelined.
With energy storage as part of the project the utilities have an “adder” and reason to sign long term PPAs. With the energy storage system “right sized” one doesn’t have to curtail non-fueled generation and then can store this energy and time shift its use to after the sun goes down. Having a solar PV asset that one can’t use for more than 2 to 4 hours a day and one you can use for 10 hours a day on average adds value for every hour operating and serving energy to the grid. This attracts more investors and more projects in the future.
“By coupling the solar facility with an energy storage solution, electricity produced during peak solar hours can be dispatched later in the day, thereby creating a balance between electricity generation and demand. Energy storage can further smooth electricity prices, manage evening energy ramps, mitigate curtailment and provide grid stability.”
Pretty sure this is a paradigm to the utility industry. One could actually construct a solar PV or wind generation farm, then store all electricity into an on site energy storage system, then turn the site on at night to serve the grid demands overnight. Energy storage, generation neutral, can charge, sit for hours, days maybe even months and then be switched on to generate energy into the grid.
Just sayin’, generate and sell is so last century.