One of the US’s first solar peaker plants – with Tesla Megapack – just broke ground

Solar energy company Arevon Energy and San Diego Community Power have broken ground on the Vikings Energy Farm, one of the first solar peaker plants in the US.

Vikings Energy Farm is a solar + storage power plant in Holtville, California, in Imperial Valley, near the Baja California border. It was first announced in May 2021. It will consist of First Solar thin film Cadmium Telluride PV solar modules and a Tesla Megapack for battery energy storage. 

Tesla Megapack stores energy for the grid reliably and safely, eliminating the need for gas peaker plants and helping to avoid outages. Each unit can store over 3 MWh of energy – enough energy to power an average of 3,600 homes for one hour.

The Vikings Energy Farm solar peaker plant has a unique 1:1 configuration of 137 MW of solar and 150 MW/600 MWh of battery energy storage. That allows it to shift daytime solar production to late afternoon and evening hours, providing on-peak energy whenever necessary. Arevon says it will “power tens of thousands of homes” once it’s online, but did not indicate when the project will be completed.

The project will provide renewable energy to San Diego Community Power and help meet peak summer demand and support grid reliability. 

A solar peaker plant uses solar energy to generate electricity during periods of high demand. It’s designed to provide reliable power during peak demand periods, and can help to reduce the need for fossil fuel-fired peaker plants, which are more expensive and produce greenhouse gas emissions.

Read more: This solar + storage project could be a US grid game changer

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