Arizona’s TEP expects to add 1.1 GW renewables by 2030

Mar 3, 2016 11:05 CET by Plamena Tisheva

March 3 – Arizona utility Tucson Electric Power (TEP) expects to add 1.1 GW of renewable capacity by the end of 2030, increasing its total renewable energy portfolio to around 1.5 GW.

The company, which provides electricity to some 417,000 customers in southern Arizona, said on Wednesday it would continue to invest in large solar systems and other community-scale renewables that add cost-effective capacity to its renewable portfolio.

TEP has filed its preliminary 2016 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) with the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC). The plan sets out how the company intends to meet customers’ needs through 2030.

The utility also said it was looking into how energy storage and smart grid technologies could improve reliability, adding that construction was to start this year on two 10-MW storage projects. It expects to use more sensing and measurement devices in response to the increase of distributed energy resources like rooftop solar, effectively turning parts of the local electric grid into stand-alone “microgrid” systems.

TEP and other regulated Arizona power providers filed preliminary IRP plans this year because of the uncertainties around the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan (CPP). “Our initial analysis suggests that TEP’s resource diversification strategy is consistent with the targets set forth in the final CPP,” said president and chief executive David Hutchens. “We will continue working toward our goals as the CPP’s status is resolved,” he added.

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