Revolve Renewable Power Corp. (REVV) ("Revolve") is pleased to provide an update on the ongoing development activity of its 80MWh/20MW Vernal Battery Storage project (the "Vernal BESS Project") This news release is the latest in a series of updates the Company will provide on its Utility Scale development portfolio in the US.
Vernal Project Summary
The Vernal BESS Project is an 80MWh / 20MW battery storage project, located on a 47-acre land parcel wholly owned and administered by the State Land Trust (the "State Trust") in Uintah County, 4 miles north of Vernal, Utah.
The project is the Company's first stand-alone battery storage project under development in the US, which is a fast-growing segment of the energy market in the country.
The project site already benefits from excellent access through the existing local road network and is in close proximity to existing transmission infrastructure.
The Company has planned a very active work programme during 2023 and is targeting a RTB (ready to build) date of 2024 for the Vernal BESS Project.
Steve Dalton, Revolve CEO commented: "We are excited about the progress being made on the Vernal BESS battery storage project, our first battery storage project in our US utility scale portfolio. We look forward to working towards some key project milestones during the course of next year ahead of a target ready to build status in 2024 "
Development Highlights
Development activity on the Vernal BESS Project commenced in May 2021 with the submission of an application to lease the project site from the State Trust in Utah. This was followed by the submission of an interconnection application and scoping for the permitting required for the project.
Site control – Following completion of the application process signed a lease agreement with the State Trust in Jan 2022, which allows for the development, construction and long-term operation of the Vernal BESS Project. The current acreage under contract is 47 acres although the final project site is expected to utilise a much smaller footprint.
Interconnection – the Vernal BESS Project is ideally located less than a half mile from the existing transmission network in the area. In May 2022 the company applied for an interconnection with Pacificorp the transmission system operator / owner of the interconnection infrastructure located adjacent to the project site as part of their 2022 Cluster 2 study.
The results of this first phase of the study process were recently received by Revolve and they are currently being assessed in conjunction with the Company's technical advisers. Based on the analysis to date, the Company expects to advance the project to the next stage of the study process in early 2023.
Permitting – The permitting requirements for a battery storage project are in general less onerous than those required for a wind or solar energy projects and the timeline would also be expected to be shorter. The Company engaged Wood Group to prepare a permitting matrix and timeline for the project. Permitting work on the project will commence Q1 2023 based on this matrix and is estimated to take up to eighteen months to achieve full approval given the relevant authorities are supportive of the project.
2023 Development Activities
The company is planning to ramp up development activity of the project during 2023, with a particular focus on:
- Interconnection – completion of the Phase Two study by Pacificorp and subject to the results of this study the company will continue to the next phase of the interconnection process.
- Environmental & Permitting – commenced of the work to prepare applications for the state and local county permits required for the project. These include completion of a plan of development for the project, a cultural resources survey and report, a conditional use permit and easements / permits required for the short transmission line that will be constructed to connect into the nearest substation.
- Commercial – the Company is also actively following the All-Source Request for Proposal ("RFP") issued by Pacificorp in April this year. The RFP is targeting 1,945MW of new wind, solar and battery storage capacity to assist Pacificorp to meet the objectives set out in its 2021 Integrated Resource Plan ("IRP").
