A new battery energy storage facility that Alabama Power is developing on the former Plant Gorgas site will aid in reliability.
Alabama Power boasts an impressive 99.98% reliability rating. In simpler terms, the electricity you count on at home is available 99.98% of the time.
That reliability is partly thanks to the diverse ways we generate electricity – from coal and natural gas to hydro, nuclear and solar power. Did you know that over 30% of our electricity comes from clean energy sources, including solar?
While solar energy, for instance, is a renewable power source, it’s not always available, like at night or on cloudy days.
That’s where battery energy storage comes in.
Alabama Power recently announced the state’s first utility-scale battery energy storage facility to be built at the retired Plant Gorgas in Walker County. The former coal plant, which operated from 1917 to 2017, played a vital role in powering Alabama’s economy for a century. After being decommissioned, it was demolished and its vent stack imploded in 2022.
The battery system will breathe new life into the site, storing 150 MW of electricity – enough to power 9,000 homes.
So, how does battery storage work, and why should you care?
The storage system will use lithium-ion batteries, the same type found in your laptop and cell phone, but on a much larger scale.
“The technology behind lithium-ion batteries is much newer than that of other battery types,” according to a Forbes article on storage batteries. “Lithium-ion batteries have a high energy density and offer a smaller, lighter and more efficient option. They allow the user to access more of the energy stored within the battery before needing to be recharged …”
Alabama Power’s 7-acre facility will store electricity during times of low demand. Then, it will serve as an additional source of electricity during peak demand.
More specifically, Alabama Power plans to charge the battery (store energy) when demand is lower and our costs to produce electricity are lower, and to discharge the battery (release energy onto the grid) when demand is higher and the cost to produce electricity is higher. Thus, we can lower overall costs to customers.
Additionally, battery storage systems provide a tremendous amount of flexibility for system operators to manage the real-time needs of the electric grid. The battery can store energy to be available when it is most needed – night or day – to supplement generating resources.
That’s a win for our everyone.
Construction of the facility is expected to begin this year and be completed in 2027. It will be the first of its kind in Alabama and will help Alabama Power understand greater ways battery storage can help us serve our customers.
Keeping the lights on is one of the many ways Alabama Power works to provide value to our customers. This new battery energy storage system points to a future of possibilities.
