Enel Green Power, North America’s fifth-largest operator of wind and solar plants, began operations of its first solar plus energy storage project in North America. The company also launched its 140-megawatts Rockhaven wind farm in Oklahoma.
Firstly, the news come as the company embarks on an accelerated growth plan involving the addition of 6.5 GW of new renewable capacity and 1.4 GW of energy storage over the next three years. The solar plus storage project is the 181MW Lily project, located east of Dallas, Texas.
Moreover, as outlined above, it is Enel Green Power’s first hybrid project in North America that integrates a renewable energy plant with utility-scale battery storage. The Lily project includes 55 MWdc of battery storage. This is part of Enel’s installation of 600 MW of new storage capacity on the Texas power grid by 2022.
Furthermore, the Lily project features 181 MW of solar power paired with 55MW of battery capacity. The project’s 421,400 PV bifacial panels will generate over 367 GWh each year. At the same time, with its collocated battery, it will help avoid annual emissions of over 242,000 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Paolo Romanacci, Head of Enel Green Power in the US and Canada, said about the matter. “This milestone signals a new era for our company as we start delivering on our major commitment to grid-scale battery storage in the United States. By pairing renewable energy with storage technology, we are supporting a cleaner and more flexible grid.”
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Enel Green Power signed PPA with Wellington Management
He also remarked. “We are ready to answer the call of policymakers and business leaders to accelerate the energy transition in North America. As such, we are committing more investment than ever before to achieve accelerated growth targets.”
On the other hand, the Rockhaven wind farm, located in Murray and Carter counties in Oklahoma, includes 49 turbines. This project will generate 616 GWh of energy each year, enough to avoid over 359,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually.
Furthermore, through a first-of-its-kind virtual PPA, Wellington Management will purchase the electricity delivered to the grid by an 11 MW portion of the project. The clean energy from the transaction will meet or even exceed the electricity needs for all Wellington’s US corporate offices.
Finally, Enel is currently constructing five other renewables + storage hybrids in Texas: the Azure Sky solar + storage; Azure Sky wind + storage; Roseland solar + storage; Blue Jay solar + storage and Ranchland wind + storage projects.
