Colorado Springs Utilities and Juwi Sign PPA for Large Battery Storage Project

Wörrstadt, Germany - Boulder-based Juwi Inc. and Colorado Springs Utilities announced they signed a power purchase agreement for the Pike Solar and Storage project. The 175-megawatt (MW) solar project will be coupled with a 25 MW, four-hour battery energy storage system.

The project will be located in El Paso County and is slated to be completed in 2023. As Juwi points out, when built, it will be the largest solar facility on Colorado Springs Utilities’ system. Also the 25-MW battery storage system will be one of the largest in Colorado.

Over the 17-year term of the power purchase agreement, Pike Solar will deliver clean energy from more than 400,000 photovoltaic panels and generate enough energy to power more than 55,000 homes a year. After adding Pike Solar to the existing solar, wind and hydro resources, renewable energy is estimated to represent 27 percent of Colorado Springs Utilities’ energy portfolio.

The project marks the first contracted storage system for both Juwi and Colorado Springs Utilities. The battery will be connected to both the solar array system and the electric grid and will have a discharge duration of four hours before it needs to be recharged.

The energy stored in the battery will be discharged during expensive peak hours or at night when the solar facility is not generating electricity. The storage system will help integrate solar power with the rest of Colorado Springs Utilities’ energy portfolio, by shifting the hours during which some of the solar energy is delivered to the grid.

Pike is the second solar project that Juwi and Colorado Springs Utilities have worked on together. The first project, Palmer Solar, is a 60 MW facility and is currently the largest solar project on Colorado Springs Utilities’ system.

Source: IWR Online, 22 Sep 2020