Electricity from 100MW of energy storage facilities will be purchased by US public utility company El Paso Electric, following a competitive solicitation process.
Headquartered in Texas and serving more than 400,000 customers in that state and in New Mexico, the utility determined that it required additional generation and energy management resources in place by the time the 2022 and 2023 summer peaks in electricity demand happen. The utility currently owns around 2,153MW of generation facilities.
El Paso Electric put out its 2017 “All Source Request for Proposals for Electric Power Supply and Load Management Resources” as a consequence, competitively tendering for both the construction of new projects including solar, storage and natural gas and for the purchase of power from third-party owned generation facilities.
Winning proposals remain subject to their obtaining required environmental and construction permits as well as gaining approval from the respective Public Utility Commission of Texas and New Mexico’s Public Regulation Commission. El Paso Electric said the projects chosen and the mix of diverse choices is in line with the need to deploy “cost-effective, diverse and competitive-based energy resources for its customers” in expanding its portfolio, as well as advancing a strategic goal to “remain at the forefront in advancing renewable energy”.
The utility selected:
200MW of utility-scale solar
100MW of energy storage
226MW new natural gas combustion turbine unit at existing power station
50MW to 150MW of wind and solar power purchases
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