Renewable energy developer Enel Green Power announced that it has started the construction of the Lily solar + storage project, its first hybrid project in North America.
The project integrates Enel’s renewable energy plant with utility-scale battery storage.
This substantial commitment to deploy battery storage capacity underscores Enel’s leadership in constructing innovative hybrid projects that will drive the ongoing decarbonization of the power sector in the United States and around the world,” said Antonio Cammisecra, CEO of Enel Green Power.
The Lily solar + storage project will comprise of 146 photovoltaic (PV) facility combined with a 50MW AC battery and the project is expected to be operational by summer 2021.
As per the company’s official statement, Lily’s 421,400 PV bifacial panels are expected to generate over 367 GWh each year, which will be delivered to the grid and will charge the co-located battery. Further, the battery storage system can store up to 75 MWh at a time to be dispatched when solar power generation is low, while also providing the grid access to a clean supply of electricity during periods of high demand.
In addition to the Lily solar + storage project, Enel plans to install approximately 1GW of battery storage capacity across its new and existing wind and solar projects in the United States over the next two years.
The company has been pursuing an active growth strategy in the US and Canada. It has planned the installation of around 1 GW of new utility-scale wind and solar projects each year through 2022. Further, for each renewable project in development, Enel Green Power will evaluate the scope for paired storage with the objective to monetize the energy production of the renewable plant, while also providing additional benefits such as supporting grid reliability.
Other Enel Green Power construction projects across the US and Canada include the 245 MW second phase of the Roadrunner solar project in Texas, the 236.5 MW White Cloud wind project in Missouri, the 299 MW Aurora wind project in North Dakota and a 199 MW expansion of the Cimarron Bend wind farm in Kansas.
