MEC Launches New Battery Storage & Substation Project
There is no secret that summer is hot here in northwestern Arizona, and MEC is beating the heat with new infrastructure upgrades to keep your lights and a/c on.
The population in the Mohave Electric Cooperative’s (MEC) service territory is increasing, and each household is using more and more electricity.
MEC’s new battery project will balance our existing solar energy, mitigate peak period energy use, and stabilize energy costs for our 36,700 members.
The batteries can be charged by the electric grid or from existing solar during off-peak hours. The power then can be dispatched to the grid during MEC’s peak electricity usage in the summer from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Charging the batteries from MEC’s solar facility during off-peak hours at an affordable cost and then releasing the energy to the grid later, helps MEC avoid purchasing expensive power from the energy market.
The battery energy storage system (BESS) is 15 megawatts (MW) / 60 megawatt-hours (MWh) and a $79 million investment over the next twenty years. MEC is a not-for-profit, distribution utility and will receive the energy through a purchase power agreement (PPA) with our not-for-profit, transmission provider – Arizona Electric Power Cooperative.
This project is MEC’s second 15-MW BESS PPA project and uses Powin and Stem technology with grid control systems, 24/7 monitoring, and on-command energy dispatch.
In addition, MEC is building a new substation near the new BESS project in Fort Mohave. Substations transform voltage from high to low or reverse. Essentially MEC receives power from our generation and transmission power providers, and the substation reduces this voltage so it can be released on MEC’s distribution network, and travel at a lower voltage through our electrical lines so that the energy is at a safe level for your home or business. The $2 million substation includes a 35 MVA (megavolt amperes) transformer manufactured by Virginia Transformers and will integrate with our existing 69 kV sub-transmission system as well as our 25 kV distribution system. This new substation brings MEC’s total to 15 substations throughout our service territory. These substations control voltage and power output to 53 different circuits.
MEC has been planning these infrastructure improvements specifically to be operational in the summer of 2024 to address the high temperatures and members’ high electricity usage. These infrastructure projects improve reliability, manage load growth for the future, and increase our overall system capacity and flexibility during peak load periods.