New Orleans Solar Project Up and Running

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According to a report filed with The Times-Picayune, a new solar power plant in New Orleans has begun operations. The operator of the plant, Entergy, has announced that the project’s 4,000 solar panels are now operating at the New Orleans site. When fully functioning, the solar plant can generate as much as one megawatt of electricity. That figure varies, of course, with the weather and other conditions.

The project is one of the first to use battery storage as part of its operations. In May of last year, PACE applauded the announcement of the plant, noting that the utility-scale project offered advantages to customers and to the grid.

“With an eye toward responsible approaches to diversifying energy sources in the area, city leaders begin asking in September for utility-scale solar to be considered in that plan. Although there are lots of details yet to come, it looks like city leaders might see utility-scale solar on the grid earlier than expected,” PACE wrote in May 2015. “Customers, too, have cause to be optimistic; their utility has taken the responsible approach of answering the city’s call for more solar, without sticking taxpayers with the bill. Hopefully, Louisiana’s energy leaders will take note – this is the way solar ought to be done.”

The deployment of solar power is just part of the solution to powering New Orleans and the rest of Louisiana in coming years. Entergy has also proposed to build a new natural gas-fired power plant to meet future demand in the area.