Arizona Brings a Huge Grid Battery Online Ahead of Peak Demand (electrek.co)
- Reference: 0178306870
- News link: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/07/08/0143252/arizona-brings-a-huge-grid-battery-online-ahead-of-peak-demand
- Source link: https://electrek.co/2025/07/07/arizona-brings-a-huge-grid-battery-online-ahead-of-peak-demand/
> Recurrent Energy, a subsidiary of Canadian Solar, just brought its 1,200 MWh Papago Storage facility in Maricopa County into commercial operation. The big grid battery is now supplying stored electricity to Arizona Public Service (APS), the state's largest utility, in time for peak air-conditioning season. Papago is the first of three Recurrent projects with APS. Together, they'll provide 1,800 MWh of storage and 150 MW of solar power. That's enough to run about 72,000 homes for four hours and provide year-round solar for another 24,000 homes.
[1] https://electrek.co/2025/07/07/arizona-brings-a-huge-grid-battery-online-ahead-of-peak-demand/
Enjoy it while it lasts (Score:5, Insightful)
It's hard for me to see this kind of development as anything other than positive. And yet, as recent US legislative activity proves, there are still enough people in power who think that doubling down on fossil fuels is preferable. Indeed, they seem to have gone out of their way to not only no longer support PV and battery systems like this, but to actively hinder them.
So, enjoy small victories like this one...apparently there won't be many more in the coming years.
Re: (Score:2)
There won't be many more *in the US*. Other countries are going to continue to forge ahead (barring Russia, and maybe Saudi Arabia, although I suspect the latter is willing to make money out of solar)
Re:Enjoy it while it lasts (Score:5, Insightful)
For the most part, you misunderstand red states in the US. At the state and local level, setting aside a few true troglodytes that actually make it into office, most elected republicans are actually pretty smart and competent. But, the people who elected them have been raised on Fox News or worse. So, the elected republicans get on social media and support whatever crap the current Tucker Carlsons, Joe Rogans or Alex Joneses are currently spouting, knowing full well that theyre promoting nonsense. If they dont, they will get booted out of office by someone who will. Thats a simple hard fact of life. However, they then quietly allow the local governments to operate semi-intelligently. The result is a red Arizona state government that screams BURN ALL THE COAL but quietly lets the local conservative businesses to do what they want, which is to install as much solar and battery power as they can, because nowadays fermented Dino-based electricity is getting to be one of the MOST expensive type of power and solar/battery costs keep dropping like a rock. Downmod in 3,2,1.
Re: (Score:1)
We have a solar array on our house but as govt slowly lowers the incentives its becoming less attractive. Its another industry that can't support itself. Republicans unfortunately also take advantage of the "well, the money's been appropriated, may as well get a big a piece of the pie as we can." Its a no-brainer to throw up solar grids when the bill gets sent to everyone else via taxes.
Re: Enjoy it while it lasts (Score:2)
Texas feels like that too, all the crazy MAGA talk about windmill cancer and solar bird ovens or whatever isn't reflected in the amount of renewables anyone can see on ercot.com the gov and Lt gov don't seem to talk about it.
There is still a large chunk of conservatives doing the say crazy shit but do something more practical approach to politics. Problem is it's getting harder for them, they're all under a lot of pressure to do more stupid shit or they will get tea partied... or maga'd by someone shittier.
Re:Enjoy it while it lasts (Score:4, Informative)
Despite the political road blocks green energy projects are expanding. It's not just green, but is also by far the cheapest and fastest way to bring new power online. It's interesting to see how fast it is growing in red states. It's bringing jobs to those areas as well.
Re: Enjoy it while it lasts (Score:2)
It might be, depending on how they did it.
I am fully in favor of battery storage projects, IF they are done properly.
The Moss Landing battery storage facility shows that you can do serious harm by fucking it up with insufficient compartmentalization and use of used NCM batteries recovered from EVs. Their battery banks were built from such crap, with shitty old LG cells known to be trash no less, and packed into a building in such a way that they could easily set each other on fire.
So close (Score:2)
They couldn't have squeezed another 10 MWh into it?
Re: (Score:2)
1.21 JigaWatt(Hour)s
Keep it in perspective. (Score:2)
It's slightly less than one hour of output from one unit of the Palol Verde nuclear plant.
Re: (Score:2)
The battery storage is not a big UPS. The battery storage provides load balancing and this helps to keep gas peaker plants off-line during peak power demand.
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The nuke plant provide about 25 times the power. Depending on how you do the accounting it is conservatively 40 to 50 times the cost.
That's a pretty ambitious project... (Score:2)
For an Iced Tea company.
Re: (Score:2)
But you need a lot of electricity to keep all the ice cool for your tea.