Solar project developer Avantus signed a power purchase agreement with Arizona Public Service (APS) for the Kitt Solar Project, a 100-MWAC array that will be paired with 400 MWh of energy storage. Located in Pinal County, Arizona, the Kitt Solar Project will complete development and start construction of the project in 2025, with operations expected to begin in 2026.
“Avantus’ agreement with APS will expand the availability of clean and reliable energy in Arizona and is a testament to our leadership in developing high-quality renewable energy projects,” said Cliff Graham, CEO of Avantus. “The Kitt Solar Project will not only deliver clean solar energy and offset carbon emissions but will provide much needed energy storage capacity to meet rising demand and create a more resilient grid in Arizona.”
Kitt is expected to create up to 400 construction jobs and generate local tax revenues for local services, such as schools, public safety and infrastructure throughout its operating life. The project has the capacity to serve up to 32,000 Arizona homes.
The solar + storage project will help address Arizona’s energy resiliency, as peak energy demands spike during extreme heat conditions. In 2024, Arizona saw 113 consecutive days of temperatures at or above 100°F, which also broke demand records for electricity — a trend that will likely continue for the foreseeable future.
“Over the next several years, customer peak energy demand in Arizona is expected to grow significantly,” said Derek Seaman, APS director of resource acquisition. “The Kitt Solar Project will add to our growing solar power and energy storage portfolio and provide our customers with additional reliable, cost-competitive and clean electricity.”
News item from Avantus
This solar PV plus utility scale ESS facility is becoming popular and APS along with SRP in Arizona has mentioned, going back to previous projects and adding BESS to the site for after hours energy dispatch and resiliency storage. As there are many stripes of Energy Storage, chemical, mechanical and even heat exchange technologies, it is possible to craft a solar PV plant that would store and dispatch energy to the grid overnight instead of in the day time. The energy storage connected to a regional transmission line within the grid could also be used as “arbitrage”, buy energy during off peak generation and store, time shift and sell, during high peak demands during the day or night. The realization that Energy Storage is basically generation agnostic having a “system” that can store solar PV energy during the day, perhaps wind generation at night/day and energy flow from a transmission line at late night and early morning for arbitrage is the path to having one asset used for several energy revenue streams. This concept has been proven by the “big battery” in Australia in 2017 as the multiple-revenue streams allowing very quick amortization of the asset in use.
Just sayin’, long term energy storage online along the grid could be fed from many generation resources on any given day. Being non-fueled as the Energy Storage resource, generation agnostic allows for more flexibility in the concept of the “day ahead” grid services and “grid digitalization” in the years to come. The next paradigm is EPC designing large utility projects as “power blocks” that can be selected, switched into or out of the grid. This modular capacity allows a site to be maintained, repaired or upgraded a power block at a time in perpetuity for decades.