Grid Scale

Utah lands first stand-alone battery storage project

Utah lands first stand-alone battery storage project

Pine Gate Renewables will build Utah's first stand-alone battery storage project, the company announced this week.

The .125 MW/.5 MWh battery energy storage system will provide grid stability for the City of Logan and will be integrated into the city's System Operational Control Center, which monitors the municipal electricity distribution system, power plants, power contracts, and call center.

PGR won the competitive bid from Logan City Light & Power to build the system -- the Eos ZnythTM Gen 2.3 battery and Nikola Power’s Intellect Plus Energy Management System.

“It is an honor to work on this one-of-a-kind project for the City of Logan, where we are leveraging home-grown innovation to empower the vibrant community in Logan, UT, with the resources it needs to live life uninterrupted,” said Raafe Khan, director of energy storage at Pine Gate Renewables. “The importance of building robust renewable energy storage systems has increasingly gained momentum as the country looks for ways to ensure the reliability of the grid from unexpected outages and perform during peak demand times.”

LL&P -- responsible for serving approximately 18,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers -- received a $125,000 grant last year from the American Public Power Association's Demonstration of Energy & Efficiency Developments program to help fund the project.

The zinc hybrid battery system uses non-toxic batteries, has a 20-year lifespan, and is fully recyclable. Blue Ridge Power, a spinoff of PGR, will handle the project's engineering, procurement, and construction.

The project is expected to be operational in late 2022.

“Logan City Light and Power is excited to work with Pine Gate Renewables to help Logan City explore how a battery energy storage system might augment our efforts to move our portfolio to a more carbon-friendly energy supply,” said Mark Montgomery, Logan Light & Power’s Director.

PGR has 12 GWh of storage in development as stand-alone or solar+storage hybrid projects across the country.