Danish renewable energy company Ørsted and US utility Salt River Project (SRP) have confirmed that their 300MW solar-plus-storage project in Pinal County, Arizona, has commenced operations.
The Eleven Mile Solar Center is situated just south of the state capital, Pheonix, and includes a co-located 4-hour duration 300MW/1,200MWh battery energy storage system (BESS).
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Readers of PV Tech will be aware that technology giant Meta signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the project owners last year (12 December) to secure the “majority” of the power generated from the solar PV power plant. Meta confirmed that the green energy would be used at a data centre in Mesa, with the remainder being made available to SRP customers in the region.
David Hardy, group executive vice-president and CEO of Americas at Ørsted, hailed the use of co-located solar PV and BESS, stating that it will be “critical to the reliable delivery of power as the electricity demand grows”.
“Arizona has one of the highest growth rates of electricity in the country due to the surge in data centers and the reshoring of American manufacturing. With our first project in Arizona now complete, we’re thrilled to help meet the growing demand of the state and region with reliable, domestic energy,” Hardy added.
Eleven Mile Solar Center represents an approximate US$1 billion investment by Ørsted in clean energy for Arizona. The company said it will generate approximately US$80 million for public services in the form of tax revenue for the local community.
Alongside this, the project also supported the US economy by employing domestic companies to support its development. These included US thin-film manufacturer First Solar, energy storage integrator Fluence and Nextracker, a PV tracker manufacturer.
The development of the Eleven Mile Solar Center was aided by a US$680 million tax equity financing with US investment bank JP Morgan. The financing was provided for the Eleven Mile solar PV project and the 250MW Sparta solar project in Mineral, Texas.
