Construction could begin by no later than the end of this year on a new lithium-iron phosphate store system that will go up in metro Tucson.
The project, which is said to be among the largest of its kind in the nation, belongs to the Tucson Electric Power utility company, and is expected to cost a big $294 million to complete.
Called the Roadrunner Reserve Battery Energy Storage System, the battery array will be capable of storing up to 800 megawatt hours. According to sources, that storage will in turn house enough energy to power 42,000 homes at peak hours of usage.
One of the largest utility companies in the southwest, Tucson Electric Power some years ago committed itself to an increased use of clean energy. In the process it has announced plans to retire its coal-fired Springfield Generation Station in the next decade.
The company has also pinpointed 2035 as the year in which it will obtain more than 70% of its power from renewable sources. More specifically, the company has said that it expects to add some 2,240 megawatts of wind and solar generation, along with another 1,330 megawatts of energy storage by 2038.
In announcing the new Roadrunner Reserve Battery Energy Storage System, Susan Gray, the utility company’s chief executive officer, said the new facility will “help us maintain reliability as we ambitiously but responsibly expand our community’s renewable resources.”
By design, Tucson Electric Power will tap into the new grid-connected battery storage system primarily in the morning and early afternoon hours, collecting energy to be used by customers later in the day.
The new facility, which is expected to be fully operational by the summer of 2025, will be built near the company’s Vail substation, on the southeast side of Tucson.
By Garry Boulard
