OVERLAND PARK, Kan.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–A new solar project in southern Utah is bringing together one of the
West’s top utilities and a global leader in renewable energy projects to
implement a combination of grid-scale battery storage and renewable
power to address a transmission and distribution system reliability need.
Black & Veatch, a pace-setting provider of renewable energy-focused
consulting, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), and
operations and maintenance services, announced today it has been
selected by Rocky Mountain Power, a division of PacifiCorp, to engineer
and construct a battery energy storage project that will support
reliable and sustainable electricity to residents in the Utah town of
Panguitch.
This battery energy storage system, or BESS, is intended to help Rocky
Mountain Power integrate renewable energy and electricity storage on the
grid by storing and delivering power even when the sun isn’t shining.
The energy storage system will be designed to react to peak consumption
demands and level out demands on the local grid, enabling PacifiCorp to
employ batteries instead of upgrading traditional grid poles-and-wires
infrastructure.
Panguitch, with 1,500 residents living between the Dixie National Forest
and Bryce Canyon National Park, benefits from more than 250 days of
sunshine annually. Because of the ample sunshine, Rocky Mountain Power
has contracted with Black & Veatch to install a 650-kilowatt array of
solar panels, with a ground-mounted single axis tracking system, which
will capture that sunshine and route it to a 1-megawatt, 5 megawatt-hour
energy storage system.
“Projects like the one in Panguitch are chipping away at old notions of
the intermittency of renewable energy. Battery energy storage systems
help deliver on the promise of solar PV by harnessing the time-varying
and geographically distributed energy supply and increasing the
availability and resilience of the electricity supply,” said Dave
Leligdon, Senior Vice President and Director of Renewable Energy for
Black & Veatch’s power business. “As the capacity of batteries rise and
the costs of solar and battery equipment fall, we expect more utilities
to join PacifiCorp in exploring these innovative solutions for their
customers.”
About Black & Veatch
Black & Veatch is an employee-owned, global leader in building critical
human infrastructure in Energy, Water, Telecommunications and Government
Services. Since 1915, we have helped our clients improve the lives of
people in over 100 countries through consulting, engineering,
construction, operations and program management. Our revenues in 2018
were US$3.5 billion. Follow us on www.bv.com and
in social media.
About PacifiCorp
PacifiCorp is one of the West’s leading utilities, serving approximately
1.9 million customers in six western states. The company’s operating
divisions are Pacific Power, which delivers electricity to customers in
Oregon, Washington and California; and Rocky Mountain Power, which
delivers electricity to customers in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho.
Contacts
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24-Hour
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