Alabama Power plans to build the state’s first utility-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) on the site of a longtime coal-fired plant.
The new Gorgas Battery Facility will store up to 150 MW of electricity. The lithium-ion phosphate batteries that will make up the system will have a two-hour duration, with the ability to recharge in a little over 2 hours, the utility said.
The project replaces the William C. Gorgas Electric Generating Plant, which at its height operated eight units that produced 1,416 megawatts (MW) of electricity.
The coal-fired plant began producing electricity in 1917. Alabama Power retired the last three units of the plant in April 2019.
“Plant Gorgas and Walker County hold a special place in our company’s history,” said Jill Stork, vice president of Western Division for Alabama Power. “The reuse of this site reaffirms our support of the communities we have long served, ensuring sustainable solutions that honor our past while looking to the future.”
The new 7-acre battery facility will be designed as a standalone system that will connect to and charge directly from the electric grid.
Construction will begin in 2025, with estimated completion by 2027.
