Arizona Public Service says batteries are cheapest energy option, plans big investment

[DesertRat]

The energy market in the Southwest has hit a turning point, with battery prices falling so low that the technology is now the least expensive way to provide customers electricity, according to officials from Arizona Public Service Co.

To take advantage of the historic shift, the state's biggest electric company will spend hundreds of millions of dollars to add large, building-size batteries to the power grid across Arizona.

APS will use the batteries to soak up surplus energy on the grid early in the day when solar power plants across the region are pumping out more electricity than the homes and businesses require.

The batteries will then discharge that power in the evening, when the sun sets, solar panels power down for the night, and customers turn on their lights and need the energy.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/money/business/energy/2019/02/21/aps-battery-cheapest-energy-option-arizona-power-grid/2911299002/

Link to tweet

[Yonnie3]

1. We've had a large "battery" in service in Virginia for nearly 35 years

Storage near the point of use is, of course, a more efficient way to meet peak demands, but this project was a precursor to this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_County_Pumped_Storage_Station

Bath County Pumped Storage Station

The Bath County Pumped Storage Station is a pumped storage hydroelectric power plant, which is described as the "largest battery in the world", with a maximum generation capacity of 3,030 MW, an average of 2,772 MW , and a total storage capacity of 24,000 MWh. The station is located in the northern corner of Bath County, Virginia, on the southeast side of the Eastern Continental Divide, which forms this section of the border between Virginia and West Virginia. The station consists of two reservoirs separated by about 1,260 feet (380 m) in elevation. It is the largest pumped-storage power station in the world.

Construction on the power station, with an original capacity of 2,100 megawatts (2,800,000 hp), began in March 1977 and was completed in December 1985 at a cost of $1.6 billion, Voith-Siemens upgraded the six turbines between 2004 and 2009, increasing power generation to 500.5 MW and pumping power to 480 megawatts (640,000 hp) for each turbine. Bath County Station is jointly owned by Dominion Generation (60%) and FirstEnergy (40%), and managed by Dominion. It stores energy for PJM Interconnection, a regional transmission organization in 13 states and the District of Columbia.

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