Alabama Power moves forward on solar & storage

Alabama Power is about to join the big leagues for solar + storage. Earlier this month the Souther Company subsidiary asked state regulators for permission to procure power from 400 MW of solar and energy storage, along with plans to add new gas turbines to existing plants, acquire a new plant and enter into a new contract for more gas. The five new solar projects would be located in Calhoun, Chambers, Dallas, Houston and Talladega Counties, and the power contracts that Alabama Power is seeking approval of would bundle the solar and battery costs into a single payment structure. These projects are the result of a renewable energy solicitation that Alabama Power filed earlier. It is not clear when these projects will actually be built; however it is possible that this information is buried somewhere in the 342 page-filing and that we at pv magazine simply missed it. These five projects would more than double the amount of solar installed in the state, which Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) put at 283 MW as of the second quarter of this year.