Alabama’s first utility-scale battery planned on former coal site

Southern Company-owned utility Alabama Power has announced plans to develop the state’s first utility-scale BESS, on the site of a former coal plant.

The Plant Gorgas coal-fired power station generated electricity from 1917 until what its owner described as “federally driven environmental mandates” forced its closure in 2019. At the time, Alabama Power said making the site comply with environmental regulation would have cost $300 million.

The utility had been fined $1.25 million, in 2018, for polluting ground water near its coal ash ponds.

Jeff Peoples, chair, president, and CEO of the utility, discussing the planned BESS at the site, said, “This facility will help Alabama Power understand how we can best use battery systems on our electric grid so that customers have power when they need it. The project honors Plant Gorgas’ legacy, which has played a significant role in powering the state of Alabama since 1917.”

Former coal-fired power generation stations are attractive sites for new generation projects as they have high-voltage electricity transmission lines in place. The planned BESS will be a standalone system that will connect to and charge up to 150 MW of electricity – enough to power around 9,000 homes.

Alabama Power noted in a press release, batteries can “help integrate additional clean energy resources into the company’s generation mix, providing complementary technology for variable, weather-dependent resources like solar.”

The LFP batteries for the BESS will have a two-hour duration. LFP technology is said to be safer than the more common type of lithium-ion battery because it has a much higher thermal runaway temperature, meaning the potential for cell rupture due to thermal runaway is well outside normal operating conditions even on the hottest days.

“Batteries can charge when energy costs are lower and discharge when energy costs are higher, helping keep costs down,” said Brandon Dillard, senior vice president and senior production officer of Alabama Power. “They can also supply energy to our system quickly in response to changing conditions. We are excited to learn how battery storage technology best fits into our system to reliably serve our customers.”

Construction of the Gorges Battery Facility will begin in 2025 and is expected to be complete by 2027.

From pv magazine USA.