El Paso Electric’s renewables, gas plant plans draw mixed reactions

摘要

El Paso Electric plans to rely on a combination of solar, wind, battery storage and natural gas generation to meet its peak demand needs in 2022-23, the company announced Wednesday, which drew mixed reactions Thursday from industry observers. The investor-owned utility, which has customers in Texas and New Mexico, announced Wednesday its selections from a competitive 2017 request for proposals for electric power supply and load-management resources, anticipating a need of 50 MW by 2022 and 320 MW more by 2023. The winning bids include the purchase of 200 MW from utility-scale solar and 100 MW from battery storage. EPE also approved plans to build a 226-MW natural gas combustion turbine at the company’s existing 752-MW Newman Power Station, with commercial operation to start in 2023 at an expected cost of $143 million. The company also expects to buy 50 MW to 150 MW of wind and solar power “to provide for fuel diversity and energy cost savings,” according to a news release.