Pinal County’s Board of Supervisors Wednesday unanimously approved a battery energy storage system at Teel and White-and-Parker Roads, one of the latest energy projects slated for the area.

Newport Beach, Calif.-based esVolta Development made three requests during the meeting: for a non-major comprehensive plan amendment, a rezone and planned area development overlay. Essentially, this redesignated the 40-acre parcel to allow an industrial project rather than housing.

Dubbed Cactus Wren BESS, the battery storage would be located near four existing substations for ED3, Salt River Project, Arizona Public Service and Western Area Power Administration, and several transmission lines. It would store up to 800 megawatts, or approximately four hours of energy, in excess power from the existing grid.

“[Battery storage] allows them to soak up energy at times where prices are low, where buying that power is cheap for the utility and then they can deploy it typically on-peak,” said Court Rich of Rose Law Group, who represented esVolta.

He said this is important since Arizona’s utility companies are anticipating more growth over the next few years. SRP alone is expecting 12% growth year over year in Pinal County alone, he said.

Buchanan Davis, director of local relations for SRP, said the project was on the utility’s “short list for procurement,” and explained why battery storage was necessary for the area.

“Battery storage keeps the lights on when demand is high, and it gives you flexibility. [It] reduces reliance on costly wholesale markets and helps prevent shortages that can lead to blackouts. In simple terms, it charges when energy is plentiful and releases that energy when it’s needed most,” he said.

The battery storage is located just south of the 500-acre Energy Generation and Technology Campus approved by supervisors last month. Developers did not specify how or if the projects were related.