IRVINE, Calif. & JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--174 Power Global (“174 Power Global”), this week is dedicating the imminent completion of its Imeson Solar (dba SunPort Solar), nine megawatt (MW) DC solar plus battery energy storage system (BESS) generation facility, in Jacksonville, Florida. 174 Power Global will own and operate the facility, from which the power will be purchased by Jacksonville Electric Authority (JEA) for the next 25 years.
“The technology in this type of facility puts Florida in a leading role with regard to utility scale solar,” said 174 Power Global President Henry Yun, PhD. “A DC-coupled system means the energy is captured and stored at the DC level, preventing a loss in efficiency compared to traditional energy storage systems which capture the energy to be stored after it’s converted to alternating current (AC). This technology provides similar benefits to that of net metering, where the utility agrees to purchase excess power. However, many of those mandates have been reached, so this is a huge step in the right direction on the national level and it’s been great to work with JEA to bring this to fruition.”
JEA, located in Jacksonville, Florida, serves nearly 500,000 electricity customers and is committed to procuring its energy from renewable sources, including putting the sun to use in the sunshine state by harvesting solar energy. 174 Power Global broke ground on the project in April. The energy from this project will be provided to JEA SolarSmart customers, a program which offers home and business owners the opportunity to go solar without installing equipment.
“We are very excited for 174 Power Global’s SunPort Solar system to join our grid,” said Steven McInall, JEA’s Vice President of Energy and Water Planning. “This is the first utility-scale battery storage on the JEA grid, and it will provide us an opportunity to see how storage can integrate with our system. We believe that utility-scale storage is the key to having even greater levels of renewables in the future.”
The single-axis tracker project will enable the solar panels to follow the sun from east to west every day, improving the overall energy output from the system. Numerous partners helped make this project possible, including Sungrow, NexTracker, Performance Contracting Inc. (PCI), Prosser and Westwood Engineering. The solar power plant includes 27,260 Q.POWER L-G5.2 320/325 and Q.PLUS L-G4.2 345 solar photovoltaic (PV) modules, provided by Q CELLS. This project will be 174 Power Global and Sungrow’s first utility-scale solar plus DC-coupled battery energy storage system (BESS) collaboration in the United States.
“174 Power Global has proven its solar development abilities in the US market and now expanding its expertise beyond generation. This project showcases 174 Power Global’s ability to bring new products to the industry, such as energy storage in this case, to support Florida’s renewable energy efforts,” said Duhyoung Ryoo, CEO of Hanwha Energy. “We are thrilled to work with JEA to bring clean energy to Florida’s grid in a big way that solves problems through innovation.”
About 174 Power Global
Irvine, California-headquartered 174 Power Global is a leading solar energy company that is wholly owned by the Hanwha Group. With deep expertise across the full spectrum of the project development cycle, 174 Power Global works closely with landowners, local communities, financial investors and other partners to build highly productive, utility scale solar power plants throughout North America. Since its formation in 2017, 174 Power Global has signed nearly 2 gigawatts (GW) of power purchase agreements and has more than 6GW of additional projects in the development pipeline. The Company was ranked as the 2018 number #1 solar project development company in the United States by Wood Mackenzie.
174 Power Global’s name was inspired by the 174 petawatts (PW) of power the earth receives from the sun at any moment.
For more information, visit: www.174powerglobal.com/
About JEA
JEA is the largest municipal electric utility in Florida and one of the largest water and sewer utilities in the nation providing electric, water and wastewater service to residents and businesses in Northeast Florida.
About Sungrow
Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd ("Sungrow") is a global leading inverter solution supplier for renewables with over 87 GW installed worldwide as of June 2019. Founded in 1997 by University Professor Cao Renxian, Sungrow is a leader in the research and development of solar inverters, with the largest dedicated R&D team in the industry and a broad product portfolio offering PV inverter solutions and energy storage systems for utility-scale, commercial, and residential applications, as well as internationally recognized floating PV plant solutions. With a strong 22-year track record in the PV space, Sungrow products power installations in over 60 countries, maintaining a worldwide market share of over 15%. Learn more about Sungrow by visiting www.sungrowpower.com.
For more information, visit: www.JEA.com
