Western Farmers Electric Cooperative has announced its plans to partner with NextEra Energy Resources to build what could be the largest energy storage facility in the United States.
According to WFEC, the facility will combine storage from wind, solar and other sources and is the first of its kind in the electric grid region that includes Oklahoma and 13 other central states.
“With the price of wind and solar energy lower than ever, we are now able to pair it with battery storage to make more affordable, renewable energy available to customers more hours of the day, even when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining,” said Gary Roulet, chief executive officer of WFEC.
The project will be brought online in two phases. The first is Skeleton Creek Wind, expected to begin operations by the end of the year. The second is Skeleton Creek Solar, expected to begin operations in 2023, as is the storage facility.
The turbines that power the wind energy are located in Garfield, Alfalfa and Major counties.
According to Phillip Schaeffer, principal resource planning engineer for WFEC, the battery storage facility will be in a single Garfield County location.
NextEra is the same company that erected turbines near Hinton and later ran afoul of the FAA and the Department of Justice because an air training route mitigation plan was not in hand prior to the construction commencing.
Western Farmers is a generation and transmission cooperative that powers Altus Air Force Base, as well as 21 member cooperatives. It has offices in Anadarko and Moore and owns and maintains more than 3750 miles of transmission lines to more than 330 power substations. Most of its customers are in Oklahoma and New Mexico, with some others in Texas and Kansas.