Two truths have emerged in the growing shift to clean power. More coal-fired plants are going offline, and the need for large-scale battery storage increases as renewables expand.

Now, the two trends have converged in the Nevada desert.

Last month, the California-based energy storage provider, Energy Vault Holdings, and NV Energy, Nevada’s largest public utility, announced that a new battery energy storage system has come online.

Described as “one of the largest of its kind in the state,” the Reid Gardner Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) is a 220-megawatt / 440-megawatt-hour project located 50 miles northeast of Las Vegas in the town of Moapa. It consists of Energy Vault’s trademark B-Vault system. The suite of interconnected, utility-scale, lithium-ion batteries will provide short, 2-hour duration storage of energy generated from renewable sources within the state, including solar and wind.

Power stored at the facility will serve multiple purposes. It will make Nevada’s solar and wind power generation more versatile by storing it for use when the sun goes down and the wind isn’t blowing.

Tied into the power distribution grid, it will provide stabilizing services by creating a resource that can be accessed to levelize distribution during times of peak demand.

The project is also unique for its location. The storage system was installed on the site of a former coal-fired facility, and it represents something of a clean rebirth for the location. The Reid Gardner power plant was completely decommissioned in July 2020, and it has been a source of controversy, including lawsuits, and intense focus for decades. Clean-up efforts had been ongoing since the late 1980s when diesel fuel was first discovered floating in groundwater at the site. In 2007, it was rated as the dirtiest power plant (having the highest rate of carbon dioxide emissions per megawatt-hour of electricity generated) in the country by the Environmental Integrity Project.

The project also boasts a rapid time frame for development. Energy Vault says the project was built on budget and ahead of schedule in just four months.

The Reid Gardner BESS is now operating at full capacity.