A California-based energy investment company plans to launch an advanced energy storage project that could facilitate Albuquerque's efforts to produce electricity with zero emissions.
Called the "Sandia Peak Grid," the project would create a stand-alone utility-scale electric storage facility, according to a Dec. 14 news release from the City's Economic Development Department. Upon completion, it would allow the city to manage and store energy created through solar or wind.
Eolian LP, a California-based energy investment company, is the parent company behind the energy storage project, according to the release. About a year ago, it acquired interests in energy storage projects managed by Colorado-based Able Grid Energy Solutions Inc., according to a press release from the California company.
Eolian and Able Grid will be joint venture partners behind the project. Able Grid requested $95 million in bond money in March. The incentives would be used to finance the purchase and improvement of a vacant site near the Public Service Company of New Mexico's Reeves Generating Station, located south of Paseo del Notre Boulevard and west of Interstate 25.
The industrial revenue bond was approved on Oct. 19.
"This location was chosen years ago because of its ability to provide modern, fast-responding and pollution-free reliability and grid-balancing solutions directly in the heart of PNM's largest load zone, adjacent to a gas-fired power plant," Eolian's CEO Aaron Zubaty said in a prepared statement. "We are excited to see this major milestone completed with the support and partnership of the City of Albuquerque."
According to an Albuquerque Development Commission filing, the grid would have a storage capacity of between 100 and 200 megawatt hours and, once completed, require two full-time operators.
At least half of the labor behind the engineering and construction of the new facility is expected to be local, according to the development commission filing.
During construction, the Sandia Peak Grid project could create up to 100 "primarily local" jobs. The jobs are for higher-skilled utility construction positions that would pay higher than the average wage for construction positions, according to Babaak Parcham, a spokesperson for the City.
Parcham couldn't say when hiring would start, but in a Dec. 22 email to Albuquerque Business First, he noted that some high-paying positions would be required for the operation of the facility.
Eolian is currently in the regulatory approval process, and construction is set to begin once its received approval, Parcham said, adding that a specific timeframe for the project was not available.
