2 PSE projects underway in Western WA to create 350 MW of clean energy
Sep 25, 2024, 2:29 PM
The sun shines on recently installed solar panels at a solar farm in a agricultural field. (Photo: Matt Cardy, Getty Images)
(Photo: Matt Cardy, Getty Images)
In an effort to reach its clean energy benchmark by 2030, Puget Sound Energy (PSE) announced it is creating and building two large projects that are expected to add nearly 350 megawatts of renewable energy.
The first project is a utility-scale solar facility in Garfield County, built within the existing PSE Lower Snake River Wind Facility. Once completed, it will be capable of generating enough to power more than 30,000 homes.
It has been named the Appaloosa Solar Project.
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“We’re excited to bring clean, reliable utility-scale solar energy to our customers, especially during peak summer months when cooling demand is high,” Ron Roberts, Senior Vice President of Energy Resources, said. “This project demonstrates our commitment to a low-carbon future and advances our efforts to meet Washington state’s ambitious clean energy goals.”
Qcells USA, a solar energy company based in Irvine, California, is in charge of completing the project, which is expected to start in 2025 and be finished by Dec. 2026.
“It will create employment opportunities for approximately 300 workers during construction with community workforce or project labor agreements being utilized,” Andrew Padula, spokesperson for PSE, said in a prepared statement. “It will also include local and diverse suppliers when available, promoting economic development in the region.”
The Appaloosa Solar Project will contribute approximately 4% towards PSE’s 2030 clean energy goals.
The second project — dubbed the Greenwater Project — is a battery storage system, which is designed to store excess energy generated by wind and solar farms and release it to the grid during periods of high demand.
It is expected to serve roughly 70,000 customers during days of excess energy in winter, and 100,000 during summer days requiring excess energy.
“We’re investing in technologies like battery storage that can support a continuous and reliable supply of clean energy to our customers,” Craig Pospisil, PSE vice president of Business Development and M&A, said. “Battery storage projects like Greenwater help us harness the renewable energy we generate while ensuring the grid remains reliable during extreme temperatures and times of peak demand.”
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BrightNight will design and install the facility using lithium-ion batteries. It will be located near Sumner and is expected to be operational by mid-2027.
PSE has added more than 3,800 MW of renewable energy resources to its resource mix since 2019.
Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here and you can email him here.
