CPS Energy, San Antonio’s city-owned utility, has inked a deal for additional 120 megawatts of battery storage capacity, which it hailed as a major step as it transitions to clean energy.
Under the deal, OCI Energy will develop a new battery storage project called Alamo City ESS LLC in South Bexar County. The site will allow CPS Energy to power more than 100,000 homes when extreme hot or cold temperatures drive high demand, officials with the utility said.
Expected to come online in late 2026, the new site will bring CPS Energy’s total battery storage capacity to 502 megawatts. OCI Energy also operates a large-scale solar farm to produce energy for the utility.
Since adopting its Vision 2027 clean-energy plan early last year, CPS Energy has added 1,710 megawatts of owned natural gas generation, 500 megawatts of natural gas firming capacity, 84 megawatts of additional wind capacity and 730 megawatts of solar, according to officials.
Even so, environmental groups have urged CPS Energy to pick up its pace on renewable energy, shift away from natural gas and move up the closure date for its its J.K. Spruce coal plant, ranked among the nation’s worst-polluting industrial sites.
CPS Energy has pledged to end its use of coal by 2028 and become carbon neutral by 2050 as part of San Antonio’s Climate Action & Adaption Plan.
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This article appears in Nov 28-29, 2024.