Ørsted and Salt River Project (SRP) have commenced operations at the Eleven Mile Solar Center, a 300 MW solar project and 300 MW battery energy storage system (BESS) in Pinal County, Ariz.
The center is SRP’s largest co-located solar and BESS project, providing power to businesses, homes and Meta’s data center in Mesa, Ariz.
“Solar energy paired with battery energy storage will be critical to the reliable delivery of power as the demand for electricity grows,” says David Hardy, group EVP and CEO Americas at Ørsted.
“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.”
Ørsted supported American companies, such as First Solar, Fluence and NEXTracker, in procuring panels, batteries and tracking equipment and for the project.
With the addition of Eleven Mile, SRP has 3,000 MW of energy, including 1,400 MW of solar. It also has 1,300 MW of battery and pumped hydro storage supporting its grid.