Ameren Missouri to build three solar and battery storage facilities for round-the-clock use

Ameren Missouri has announced plans to build three solar and storage facilities to power customers by daylight, save additional energy, and use those savings to continue powering through the night and during extended outages.

The facilities should cost around $68 million and consist of large solar energy generation facilities connected to battery storage — the first of their kind in Missouri. The investments are part of the company’s Smart Energy Plan, and the notion has been filed with the Missouri Public Service Commission. Supposing the MoPSC approves it, the plan will yield facilities in Green City, Missouri; Richwoods, Missouri; and Utica, Missouri, each providing around 10 megawatts of energy.

“At Ameren Missouri, we’re leading the region with this technology,” Michael Moehn, chairman and president of Ameren Missouri, said. “These non-traditional solutions are expected to benefit customers by increasing reliability, growing the amount of renewable energy generation on the grid, and investing in the communities we call home. Innovative projects such as Solar + Storage are moving Missouri forward with smart energy.”

Kevin Anders, vice president of Ameren Missouri’s distribution operations and technical services, adds that this capability was not available two years ago, but the company has eyed recent strides in solar and storage technology with anticipation. The decline in prices has now made the option affordable for the company.

Once built, the new structures will allow customers to draw power primarily from these solar facilities during the day. At the same time, those facilities will charge batteries that will then be able to power connected homes for several hours during service interruptions, cutting down outage time. If approved, the facilities could be operational as early as next year.