Construction will begin this year on what Alabama Power says is the state’s first utility-scale battery energy storage facility.

The Gorgas Battery Facility in Walker County will be built on the old Plant Gorgas site, which was retired in 2019 and partially demolished by 2022.

The project should be completed by 2027, according to Alabama Power. The 7-acre site will connect to and charge directly from the electric grid, employing lithium iron phosphate batteries.

Battery energy storage facilities are used worldwide to maintain power in the event of interruption.

The system will have a two-hour duration of power, with the ability to recharge in about the same amount of time. It can store up to 150 MW of electricity, or enough to power about 9,000 homes, according to the company.

Brandon Dillard, senior vice president of generation, said the battery facility can charge when energy costs are lower, and provide power when costs are higher, keeping power bills lower for consumers.

“They can also supply energy to our system quickly in response to changing conditions,” he said in a news release.

Alabama Power sees batteries as providing energy technology alongside other clean energy resources, such as solar power.

“This facility will help Alabama Power understand how we can best use battery systems on our electric grid so that customers have power when they need it,” CEO Jeff Peoples said.

The company announced in February 2019 that it was shuttering the William Crawford Gorgas Electric Generating Plant in Walker County due to “federally driven environmental mandates.”

The facility had generated electricity since 1917 on the banks of the Black Warrior River near the town of Parrish, and had been operating three coal-fired units.