Salt River Project to issue All-Source RFP this year for 277 MW
Salt River Project (SRP), a not-for-profit water and energy company in Arizona, is gearing up to issue an All-Source RFP before the end of 2021.
According to a SRP spokesperson, Erica Sturwold, this upcoming RFP will seek 277 MW. Those megawatts are needed for SRP to reach its goal of 2,025 MW in utility-scale solar before 2025.
“The total generation that will be solicitated in this RFP is still being finalized,” Sturwold said in an email to NPM.
This upcoming RFP comes on the tails of SRP’s 2020 RFP which garnered 1,100 MW of solar.
“(SRP) have now procured 900 MW from it, with 500 MW of it announced as part of the Facebook-data center solar plant project, and 400 MW of it to come from SRP’s CO Bar Solar,” Sturwold said.
SRP is still in talks for one more power purchase agreement (PPA) from that 2020 RFP for 200 MW, which will be located on the Navajo Nation.
Once that is secured, Sturwold said, SRP will still need a remaining 277 MW of solar by 2025 to meet its 2,025 MW commitment, alluding to the soon-to-be issued RFP.
Sturwold pointed to SRP’s recent announcement of its solar projects which were brought on from the 2020 RFP. These contracts will produce 1,548 MW. This solar capacity includes SRP’s three solar plants, which are part of its Sustainable Energy Offering of 300 MW and its announced solar + storage projects of 348 MW. It also includes three solar plants to support Facebook’s data center in Mesa, Arizona, and benefit SRP small business customers with 500 MW. Finally, it includes SRP’s largest solar plant CO Bar Solar, to be built near Flagstaff and to produce 400 MW.
The three solar plants that are being built to support the Facebook data center and SRP customers are being developed by NextEra Energy Resources, AES Corporation, and EDP Renewables, respectively.
“For the Sonoran and Storey energy centers, the developer we are working with, subsidiaries of NextEra Energy Resources, plans to use lithium iron phosphate for the battery chemistry on both projects,” Sturwold said.
The Sonoran Energy Center will be an approximately 250 MW solar system, Sturwold added. It will have a solar array charging a 1 GW-hour energy storage system and is planned to be built in Little Rainbow Valley south of Buckeye, Arizona.
“This will be the largest solar-charged battery project in the state and will help SRP learn significantly more about solar-powered energy storage and operations,” she said.
According to Sturwold, SRP’s goal to have 2,025 MW in utility-scale solar before 2025 is part of its overarching Sustainability Goal, which is to reduce carbon emissions by 65% by 2035 and by 90% by fiscal year 2050 as compared to levels seen in 2005.
“Significantly growing our solar portfolio also helps our customers reduce their carbon footprints while helping SRP maintain reliability,” Sturwold said.