Battery system stores solar energy for evening peak hours
Swiss-American energy storage company Energy Vault has completed construction of the largest grid-connected energy storage system based on lithium-ion batteries in the United States. The 220 MW/440 MWh Reid Gardner Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) is located in Moapa, Nevada, approximately 80 km northeast of Las Vegas.
The new energy storage facility occupies the site of the former 557 MW Reid Gardner coal plant, which was decommissioned and dismantled in 2019.
The BESS system is a storage facility designed to store excess energy generated by wind and solar power plants. Daily stored renewable energy is discharged during peak load hours to ensure uninterrupted power supply to consumers.
According to the CEO of the energy company NV Energy, Daf Cannon, peak loads occur in the evening hours from 17:00 to 21:00, when the production of solar power plants decreases due to sunset. «During this time, we often had to go to the wholesale market and buy electricity at a very high price, on average $250 per megawatt hour»,— noted Cannon.
Thanks to the new storage system, NV Energy will be able to provide consumers with the “green” energy accumulated during the day. energy at a much lower cost of about $100 per megawatt-hour during peak hours. The company estimates that by the end of 2024 this will reduce customer bills by 15-20%.
The construction of the $250 million BESS energy storage facility was financed 40% by federal funds received as part of the Inflation Relief Act. The system will be managed and maintained by the developer Energy Vault.