Enel Green Power (EGP) has started construction on its first hybrid solar and storage project in North America.

Located southeast of Dallas in Texas, US, the Lily solar and storage project includes a 146MW AC photovoltaic (PV) facility and a 50MW AC utility-scale battery.

The facility will use 421,400 PV bifacial panels, with the capacity to generate more than 367GWh of energy annually. This would reportedly offset more than 242,000t of carbon emissions.

The facility’s paired battery storage system will have capacity to store approximately 75MWh. Once completed, the renewable energy generated by the solar PV facility will be stored in the batteries and supplied to the grid when required.

An EGP spokesperson said the utility-scale battery would ensure uninterrupted power supply to the electricity grid during periods of high electricity demand.

The combined project is expected to come online by next year.

Red River Renewable Energy, a joint venture between affiliates of Sun Chase Power and MAP Energy, initiated and developed the Lily solar project.

Enel Green Power CEO Antonio Cammisecra said: “This substantial commitment to deploy battery storage capacity underscores Enel’s leadership in constructing innovative hybrid projects that will drive the ongoing decarbonization of the power sector in the United States and around the world.

“The Lily solar plus storage project highlights the huge potential of renewable energy growth and represents the future of power generation, which will increasingly be made up by sustainable, flexible plants that provide zero-carbon electricity while boosting grid stability.”

Beyond this, the company is planning to install almost 1GW of battery storage capacity across its new and existing wind and solar projects in the US over the next two years.

In May this year, Enel Green Power North America announced the commissioning of three new wind farms.