As NV Energy prepares for the hot summer months, a new energy resource on the system will help keep customers cool.
Reid Gardner Battery Energy Storage System went online last December at the site of a former NV Energy coal plant.
The standalone battery project is the largest of its kind in Nevada and is located between the Moapa River Indian Tribe and the I-15 Interstate, just 50 miles northeast of Las Vegas near the Glendale exit on the Muddy River.
The project is a 220-megawatt two-hour grid-tied battery system. The batteries can be charged and discharged based on generation elsewhere in NV Energy’s system, and will help serve NV Energy’s peak load, particularly in the summer.
It was built on the site of the Reid Gardner Power Station, a coal-powered plant that was rated by the Environmental integrity Project in 2007 as the nation’s dirtiest coal plant in terms of CO2 emissions, at 3,500 pounds of CO2 per megawatt-hour, compared with an average of 2,000 pounds.
That plant was shuttered in 2017 and demolished in 2020. The North Valmy Generating Station is NV Energy’s only remaining coal-powered plant in Nevada, and it is scheduled to be retired next year.
The Reid Gardner Battery Energy Storage System will be used to store energy that will be powered back into the grid at times when solar sites aren’t generating energy.
Construction of the project cost $257 million, but NV Energy received approximately $100 million in federal tax benefits through the Inflation Reduction Act.
Congressman Steven Horsford (NV-04) applauded the ribbon-cutting of the Reid Gardner Battery Energy Storage System.
“Once a coal mine, this site is now at the forefront of the clean energy revolution in our state and nationwide. Smokestacks have been replaced by batteries that capture solar energy and fuel our state’s energy needs. I supported investments in our clean energy projects like this, and thanks to tax credits, the project cost 40 percent less for the company, thereby reducing the cost being passed on to the Nevada consumers. Investments like this will make our power grid more reliable for households all across Nevada while improving the air quality for surrounding communities.”
“We are always conscious of costs and what that will mean for customers – as we plan and project future projects, we are looking at ways to make sure we continue to take advantage of the benefits made available by the federal government to save money for our customers” said NV Energy President and CEO Doug Cannon. “I want to thank our teams who worked to finish this project in late December and gave us a great runway to work with this new resource before we hit peak loads during the summer. Our customers will benefit greatly from this new resource.”
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