Florida Power and Light Company (FPL) has unveiled what it says is the world’s largest operational solar-powered battery installation in an event with lasers and drones – as you do when officially launching a completed energy storage project.
The newly commissioned FPL Manatee Energy Storage Center is a 409MW/900MWh facility consisting of 132 energy storage containers across a 40-acre site; each housing roughly 400 battery modules. It all came together pretty quickly, with the first battery components installed in June this year.
The facility is charged by the existing Manatee Solar Energy Center, a 74.5 MW PV power station built by FPL in 2016 boasting 341,880 solar panels.
Manatee Energy Storage Center will reduce the need for FPL to run its gas peaker power plants – further reducing emissions and saving customers money through avoided fuel costs.
“This battery is another example of how FPL has become a leader in clean energy and sustainability without sacrificing affordability or reliability,” said Eric Silagy, FPL president and CEO.
Perhaps concerned the project wasn’t awesome enough, drones and lasers were thrown in with the launch:
FPL – the USA’s largest electricity gentailer1 – has installed more than 13 million solar panels to date and has a goal of 30 million solar panels in total across the state of Florida by 2030. That represents more than one panel for each Floridian and a total capacity of more than 11.7 GW.
Early this year, the company closed down its last coal fired power station in Florida. It was an interesting situation as FPL bought the power plant with the express intention of shutting it down.
Aside from solar energy and gas-fired electricity generation assets, the company also has wind farms and nuclear power plants in its fleet. FPL serves more than 5.6 million customer accounts and 11 million residents across Florida; more than half the state’s population.
Recent Australian Big Battery News
It only seems only yesterday when the Tesla Big Battery (Hornsdale Power Reserve) in South Australia held the title of the world’s biggest battery. And it really wasn’t that long ago – 2017. Hornsdale was originally 100MW/129MWh, but was expanded last year to 150 MW/194MWh.
Since the Tesla Big Battery was constructed, there has been a much larger facility brought online in Australia – Neoen’s 300 MW/450 MWh Victorian Big Battery last week. Getting it operational before the end of the year was a good effort given part of the facility caught fire in late July, which held up construction while the cause was being investigated.
There are a bunch more big batteries in the pipeline for Australia. Just in the last week there has been progress on a number of projects at various stages including:
- Neoen began construction of a 100MW/200MWh big battery in the ACT. The facility was originally to be 50MW.
- Neoen revealed plans for the Blyth Battery in South Australia, which will be up to 300MW/ 800MWh.
- The Northern Territory Government awarded the contract for the 35MW Darwin big battery to Hitachi. Construction is to commence next year and the facility is expected to be operational in 2023.
- Greenspot said it has lodged a development application for a 500MW/1000MWh big battery at the site of the closed Wallerawang coal fired power station near Lithgow in New South Wales.
In April this year, the Australian Energy Market Operator noted 85 big batteries with a total capacity of 18,660 MW were in the planning pipeline.
While the future of large-scale wind, solar and energy storage in Australia continues to look very bright – and coal’s bleaker than a Yallourn mine landscape – a significant remaining challenge is sufficient transmission to carry all this new renewable energy goodness.
Footnotes
- A portmanteau combining the terms generator and retailer. ↩
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Goddammit! Their’s is bigger!
Greenspot lodged their development application for a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) with the NSW DPIE much earlier this year.
The application number is SSD-14540514, issued on 18 Mar 2021.
Their application has been stuck at “Prepare EIS” status since then.
https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/major-projects/project/41221
I saw a news article recently that reported Greenspot was intending to lodge their EIS for their “Wallerawang 9 Battery” proposal with the NSW DPIE for public exhibition soon.
Neoen has also lodged their development application for a BESS with the NSW DPIE earlier this year.
The application number is SSD-12346552, issued on 4 Feb 2021.
Their application has also been stuck at “Prepare EIS” status since then.
https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/major-projects/project/40891
I spoke to a Neoen representative at an information session last Wednesday night (Dec 8) and was informed that Neoen hoped to lodge their EIS for their “Great Western Battery” in a matter of a few weeks with the NSW DPIE, for public exhibition probably beginning in Jan 2022. If planning and finance all goes smoothly, Neoen hoped to begin the construction phase in late-2022.
https://www.facebook.com/my2lt/photos/a.500764900054440/2383048361826075/?type=3&theater
EnergyAustralia is considering their Lake Lyell Pumped Hydro proposal. It’s still early days for this project, with an estimated 2 to 3 years of planning process to pass through, followed by 3 years of construction.
https://www.energyaustralia.com.au/about-us/energy-generation/energy-projects/lake-lyell-pumped-hydro
RenewEconomy’s Big Battery Storage Map of Australia is at: https://reneweconomy.com.au/big-battery-storage-map-of-australia/
RenewEconomy’s Pumped Hydro Energy Storage Map of Australia is at: https://reneweconomy.com.au/pumped-hydro-energy-storage-map-of-australia/
Interesting that FPL bought a coal plant for the express purpose of shutting it down. My kind of guys…!
Also, Geoffrey, that they are running gas peaker power plants, in preference to coal – with the battery aiming to reduce their reliance on these (I didn’t read – ELIMINATE their reliance).
And, they own and operate nuclear plants.
It seems FPL have their ‘heads screwed on right’.
Ian Thompson,
“Interesting that FPL bought a coal plant for the express purpose of shutting it down.”
I’d suggest FPL were/are after a ready-made large-capacity grid connection point at that site.
Greenspot and Neoen (and EA’s Lake Lyell Pumped Hydro proposal) are after the same key feature provided by the Transgrid Wallerawang substation nearby their proposed sites.
“…they are running gas peaker power plants, in preference to coal…”
For now. I’d suggest rapidly reducing fossil gas dependency will become an obvious ‘no brainer’ very soon.
Compelling evidence I see indicates the future for US tight oil and shale gas (and thus global petroleum oil and fossil gas production) doesn’t look as rosy as the US EIA would have you believe:
https://shalebubble.org/
https://energybulletin.org/the-energy-bulletin-weekly-13-december-2021/