NextEra Energy Resources and Salt River Project (SRP) have officially launched the Sonoran Solar Energy Center in Buckeye, now Arizona’s largest battery energy storage system. This landmark facility features a 260 MW solar capacity and 1 GWh of storage, enhancing the clean energy supply for Google’s future Mesa data center and other SRP customers.
New Sonoran Solar Energy Center
Leading American energy producers NextEra Energy Resources and Salt River Project (SRP) have partnered to launch a groundbreaking battery energy storage system. Announced by SRP, the Sonoran Solar Energy Center is now Arizona’s largest operational battery storage system.
Located south of Buckeye, Arizona, the center combines a 260-megawatt (MW) solar capacity with a 1 gigawatt-hour (GWh) battery storage system.
According to SRP, the project’s primary goal is to add more clean energy to the grid. It will provide dedicated power for Google’s planned data center in Mesa, while any excess energy will meet the needs of other SRP customers.
Powering Arizona’s Future
The Sonoran Solar Energy Center, alongside the recently built Storey Energy Center—an 88-MW solar and battery facility in Coolidge—will help power Google’s operations. Both facilities, operated by NextEra Energy Resources subsidiaries, are crucial to SRP’s transition to sustainable energy and a major advancement for Arizona energy storage.
During peak sunlight, these two centers can collectively generate enough clean energy to power approximately 80,000 average-sized homes. This energy can be stored for up to four hours and released to support the grid when electricity demand is highest.
In addition to these solar projects, Google will also draw power from the Babbitt Ranch Energy Center, a 161-MW wind plant being developed by NextEra Energy Resources and SRP. This wind project is located north of Flagstaff in Coconino County on Babbitt Ranches property.
Collaboration With Google
Google has set an ambitious target to run its data centers and office campuses on carbon-free energy 24/7. By 2030, the company aims to achieve net-zero emissions across its entire value chain and all operations.
The Sonoran, Storey, and Babbitt Ranch projects will help meet the energy needs of Google’s upcoming Mesa data center, announced in 2023. This facility will utilize air-cooled technology to enhance efficiency.
“The collaboration with Salt River Project and NextEra is accelerating decarbonization in Arizona and our carbon-free journey in the region,” stated Amanda Peterson Corio, Global Head of Data Center Energy at Google.
Bobby Olsen, Chief Planning, Strategy, and Sustainability Officer at SRP, remarked, “SRP and the Valley are fortunate to have sustainability-focused organisations like Google located here who help accelerate the transition to carbon-free power resources.”
SRP’s Vision for a Carbon-Free Future
Serving one of the nation’s fastest-growing service areas, SRP is actively decarbonizing its power generation portfolio. The utility’s Integrated System Plan indicates its power system will need to at least double its resources over the next decade.
As SRP proceeds with the scheduled retirement of 2,600 MW of coal-fired generation, it must add a significant number of new resources—including more Arizona commercial energy storage systems—to meet the rising energy demand in the Phoenix metropolitan area.
Anthony Pedroni, Vice President of Renewables and Storage Development at NextEra Energy Resources, noted that these renewable energy centers will produce inexpensive, domestic energy and bring millions in additional revenue to Pinal and Maricopa counties.
SRP’s power system currently uses over 600 MW of batteries and pumped hydro storage, while its customers benefit from more than 2,300 MW of carbon-free energy resources, including over 1,000 MW of solar.
With additional battery capacity under development, SRP is on track to have more than 1,100 MW of total battery storage online by the end of 2024, continuing its commitment to a cleaner grid.