Having your Solar and Storing it too – Today’s Power breaks the solar + storage mold for the Southea

TPI to install 12 MW / 26 MWH Energy Storage System in Partnership with OECC & the City of Fayetteville

March 12, 2019 – WATERBURY, VERMONT / LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS

Today’s Power Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Arkansas Electric Cooperatives Inc., announced today that it will be deploying two 6MW/13MWh lithium ion energy storage systems (ESS) in the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas. The systems, which will operate under a long term agreement between Today’s Power and Ozark Electric Cooperative, are designed to assist in the integration of more renewable energy sources for the local cooperative and help to reduce the electric load during monthly and seasonal peak demand events. This load reduction results in savings for the local electric cooperative and helps to stabilize rates for consumers. Both energy storage systems are being placed on a portion of the grid which has large solar arrays with the intent of charging the lithium units purely from sunlight.

Today’s Power who delivers innovative new technologies to utilities throughout the South Central US recently signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Northern Reliability, Inc. (“NRI”) from Waterbury Vermont and will be contracting directly with NRI for the design and build of both systems.

TPI will manage project construction and provide full operations and maintenance of the solar arrays and energy storage facilities during the 20-year agreement, leasing the necessary acreage from the City. The systems will operate on Fayetteville’s two water treatment facility properties, the Paul R. Noland Wastewater Treatment Facility (east Fayetteville) and the Westside Water Treatment Facility. Ozarks Electric will upgrade and maintain existing electricity connections at the sites. The City will continue its income-producing hay and bio-solid operations at the Noland facility.

“This year, the City Council showed great vision and leadership for their residents when they approved the Energy Action Plan in January 2018,” said Mayor Lioneld Jordan. “Through this important agreement with Today’s Power and Ozarks Electric, the Fayetteville community moves closer to several goals in the Plan. The approval of this solar power and storage project creates the renewable energy our community desires, uses existing City-owned assets more efficiently, adds jobs and promotes economic development.”

This will be the largest solar system on municipal land and the only one that has utility scale storage system in the state” said Michael Henderson, President Today’s Power. “To get a project like this one off the ground, requires a lot of work by a lot of people but Peter Nierengarten with Fayetteville, Troy Scarbrough with Ozarks and Matt Irving with Today’s Power were instrumental in working out the details and bringing it to the finish line” he added.