The Royal Gorge Energy Storage Project is a proposed 50-megawatt (MW) / 200-megawatt-hour (MWh) battery energy storage systems (BESS) facility located on roughly 10 acres in unincorporated Fremont County near Cañon City.

The Royal Gorge Energy Storage Project is being proposed by Strata Clean Energy (Strata). Strata is a family-owned, U.S.-based company started in 2008. It is a fully integrated renewable energy company, with development, engineering, construction and operations/maintenance under one roof. To date, Strata has developed 4 gigawatts of projects and currently owns, manages, and operates renewable energy facilities located throughout the U.S.

For more information about Strata Clean Energy, please visit the company’s webpage at https://www.stratacleanenergy.com/.

The Royal Gorge Energy Storage Project will be comprised of lithium-ion batteries housed within standardized, purpose-built, all-weather outdoor enclosures. Each battery enclosure will be paired with cooling systems, safety systems, inverters, controls, metering/telemetry, transformers, and accessory equipment.

On average, the battery enclosure will be approximately 10 feet in height and roughly 8 feet in width. The lengths of the enclosures vary due to the modular nature of these units. The number, size, layout and capabilities of each battery enclosure varies depending on the final system manufacturer.

The Project also includes the installation of an onsite substation located along the western edge of the Project site. This onsite substation will consist of high voltage electrical equipment that will connect the Project via the adjacent Black Hills substation to the electrical grid through a short, approximately 0.11-mile generation-tie transmission line (gen-tie line). The Project may also include water storage tanks and associated fire safety equipment.

Battery energy storage technologies can help achieve Colorado’s clean energy goals by helping:

• Reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by capturing excess renewable energy generation for use later when needed, reducing or avoiding the curtailment of renewable energy and displacing the use of fossil fuels to generate electricity.
• Reduce demand for inefficient or expensive peak electrical generation by replacing the use of natural gas-fired peaking plants during the highest electricity demand hours.
• Defer or substitute for a costly or time-consuming investment in generation, transmission and distribution by absorbing and compensating for fluctuations in energy from solar and wind energy, which complements existing infrastructure to meet energy system needs.
• Improve the reliable operation of the electrical transmission and distribution grid by providing several services to the electric grid, including frequency regulation, voltage support, resource adequacy and demand charge reduction.

• The Project, along with other energy storage facilities located throughout the state, will be an important next step in transitioning Colorado’s electrical grid to 90% renewable energy. The primary purpose of the Royal Gorge Energy Storage Project is to better utilize intermittent renewable energy generation such as solar and wind by storing energy produced by these clean energy sources when Colorado’s energy demand is lower than its energy supply. The Project will be connected to the electrical grid, and because the state’s electrical supply still consists of a mix of both renewable and non-renewable energy generation sources, the energy stored by the Project will reflect this mix of sources.

• Most of Black Hills Energy’s existing electricity generators are located east of Cañon City, and this electricity flows along a limited number of transmission lines. As a local electricity resource, the project could be available to continue providing power in Fremont County in the event these lines are downed. With the increase in events that can cause a loss in power, the project can help ensure electric reliability in the local community and beyond.
• The Project will also provide significant economic benefits to Fremont County and the region. Construction jobs, new property tax revenue, and ancillary economic stimulus will be injected into the community during the construction and operations of the facility. Once the Project is online, Fremont County will join dozens of other communities across Colorado and the world that are utilizing advanced energy storage facilities to provide on-demand and reliable electricity.

The Royal Gorge Energy Storage project would be connected to the electrical grid, so when discharged, energy stored by the project will enter the grid and travel where needed on the local and regional grid. Since electrons follow the path of least resistance, when the battery is discharging, the local load will be served first.

Strata’s current visual buffer strategy is to install a fence with vinyl slats around the entire property combined with climate-appropriate vegetation along the western and southern boundaries of the site. A combination of Rocky Mountain and Spartin Junipers are being considered, but may incorporate other regionally adapted medium evergreen tree species.

No water is required for the operations of the battery energy storage system. Water may be hauled in for the purpose of emergency preparedness in conjunction with the local fire department.

The primary sources of noise are HVAC units within each battery enclosure, similar in volume to industrial AC systems, and inverters connected to the battery cabinets. Operational noise is anticipated to be consistent with ambient nighttime sound levels already experienced in the area.

Lithium-ion battery energy storage systems do not release pollutants during normal operation. The only operational air emissions generated by the Royal Gorge Energy Storage Project will be related to the handful of weekly operations/maintenance vehicle trips required to ensure that the Project is operating properly. Charging and discharging of the batteries is emission free and generates no odors.

Lithium-ion batteries are considered less toxic than lead acid batteries, do not have spill and chemical burn risk, and have a much longer useful life. Lithium-ion batteries are a widely adopted battery technology that has been found in various consumer applications over the past decades and are used in cell phones, laptops, and other household electronics. Unlike traditional household alkaline batteries that are non-rechargeable and may leak due to mistreatment and abuse, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries use a completely different chemistry and form factor that do not leak.

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are not a new technology. Sony began marketing commercial lithium-ion batteries to the public over 30 years ago. Over the past decade, use of lithium-ion batteries for electrical grid application has become more widespread as lithium-ion battery energy storage systems have been increasingly economically viable.

Several local, state, national and other relevant building, safety, and fire codes are applicable to the design, construction, and operation of the Royal Gorge Energy Storage Project. Visit our Safety Tab for a detailed list of such codes.

Construction of the BESS Facility is anticipated to occur over approximately 10-12 months.

At the end of its useful life, the Royal Gorge Energy Storage Project will either be replaced or decommissioned. Decommissioning means removing all Project equipment and improvements from the Project site and restoring the site to pre-construction (or better) conditions.

Strata has strong relationships with existing battery vendors and with the emerging battery recycling industry. The Project will assume battery recycling obligations and coordinate battery recycling with appropriate parties based on standard and emerging processes at the time of decommissioning.

• Lithium-ion battery recycling is a rapidly evolving industry that will likely yield new processes in the future. A vast majority of the first electric vehicle and utility-scale battery energy storage systems are still in operation and, as a result, the battery recycling industry has yet to fully evolve. It is anticipated that when the first utility scale storage systems (which have a useful life of approximately 20 years) reach decommissioning, the recycling industry will have significantly matured. The long-term vision of the battery storage industry is to achieve near 100% recycling capabilities.
• Lithium-ion battery recycling is accomplished via a pyrometallurgical process, a hydrometallurgical process, or a combination of both. Direct recycling is also an emerging recycling option, although full-scale commercialization has not yet been realized. The industry is seeing many startups commercializing more efficient techniques and building dedicated lithium-ion battery recycling factories at an unprecedented scale (thanks largely in part to the passage of the bipartisan Inflation Reduction Act).
• In addition to re-use in new battery cells, the recycled materials extracted can be used in a wide variety of consumer products such as lubricants and additives to building products.