Salt River Project, CMBlu Energy to pilot long duration battery storage project in Arizona
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Salt River Project, CMBlu Energy to pilot long duration battery storage project in Arizona

Salt River Project and CMBlu Energy announced plans to deploy a pilot long-duration energy storage system in the Phoenix, Arizona area.

CMBlu will build, own and operate the 5 MW, ten-hour duration project, named Desert Blume, on behalf of SRP at the utility’s Copper Crossing Energy and Research Center in Florence, Arizona.

The project is designed to store energy from Arizona’s abundant solar generation during the day and return that energy to the grid at night.

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CMBlu’s Organic SolidFlow battery technology uses a non-flammable mix of solid electrolyte and water-based electrolytes the company says offers high energy density and performance. CMBlu says the systems are fully recyclable, free of rare metals, and housed inside buildings.

The company expects its battery system to store and deliver energy for two to three times longer per cycle than traditional lithium-ion technology, which typically last four hours.

This pilot is part of new development at the Copper Crossing Energy and Research Center. SRP is adding natural gas turbines with a total output of less than 100 MW, along with a solar facility capable of generating up to 55 MW.

Construction is expected to begin in early 2025. SRP and CMBlu expect the pilot to be operational in December 2025. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) will support performance monitoring for the project.

In July, CMBlu announced the first customer deployment of its LDES system with Burgenland Energie in Austria. The company is also providing its system for a pilot in Milwaukee with WEC Energy.

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