Back to Blog

OPALCO’s First Battery Storage Project

Posted in Ask OPALCO, Climate Change, Energy Efficiency & Conservation, Renewable Energy, Tech Tips

OPALCO has a vision for a healthy and sustainable energy future!

It includes local renewable energy generation for resilience in times of mainland power outages and to combat rising power and carbon costs. One part of that vision is to build community-scale solar projects coupled with batteries for energy storage. The first community solar project was completed in 2018 on Decatur Island (paid for 100% by member participants) – and this spring the battery storage component (the white container in the substation) will come online.

OPALCO plans to build a community solar project in 2020 and follow with a battery project in 2021 – and then repeat that pattern until member demand for community solar is met.

However, renewables are only one piece of the puzzle as OPALCO plans for where our future power will come from. Stay tuned for the rest of the story. Meanwhile:

 

Related Posts

View all blog entries

You may also like...

Construction alert ES

OPALCO Eastsound Office Temporarily Relocating during Roof Renovation Project

The roof of OPALCO’s 1970s built Eastsound headquarters office has reached the end of its life. Increasing structural issues with the original roof pose some safety concerns, so it is … Read more
quinoa scaled

Providing a Different Perspective

Local author and co-op member uses art to explore agriculture and climate change in his latest book Robert Dash is an OPALCO member, educator, and self-taught photographer who lives in … Read more
earthbox cover

Island Efficiency

A Local Business makes the Switch to Ductless Heatpumps One of the many things that makes the San Juan Islands so special is the rich culture of small and family-owned … Read more