A new battery energy storage facility in Tucson could well see construction beginning before the end of this year, storing 800 megawatts of power for the big Tucson Electric Power company.
The project, named the Roadrunner Reserve II, will be built to complement the Roadrunner Reserve I project, which is already under construction off South Rita Road near the Interstate 10 interchange.
According to the company, the new facility will be capable of providing power for up to 42,000 homes once it is up and running.
The new Roadrunner Reserve II system, said Susan Gray, chief executive officer of Tucson Electric Power, will prove a particularly valuable resource, “especially during the summer when usage is highest and customers are counting on us the most.”
In a statement, Gray continued: “We need additional energy storage as part of a diverse energy portfolio to support service reliability.”
Both the Roadrunner Reserve I and II projects are designed to meet the Tucson Electric Power company’s reliance on a mix of wind, solar, energy storage systems, and natural gas generation.
When construction of the Roadrunner Reserve I was first announced last fall, the company said the grid-connected batteries would be charged in the morning and early afternoon hours, “when solar resources are most productive,” in order to store the energy for use later in the day.
Tucson Electric Power has been serving the energy needs for one of the fastest-growing sections of the country for more than a century, starting out as the Tucson Electric Light and Power Company before taking on its current name in 1979.
It is thought that the company, reflecting southern Arizona’s population boom, is now serving around 1.2 million people, up from well under half a million two decades ago.
By Garry Boulard
