Ameren Missouri, a subsidiary of Ameren Corporation, has officially filled an application with the Missouri Public Service Commission, which includes a first-of-its-kind project for the company, and at the same time, extends its plan to enhance energy reliability for customers.
According to certain reports, this particular application is understood to involve the construction of an 800-megawatt (MW) simple-cycle natural gas energy center, complemented by Ameren Missouri’s first large-scale battery storage facility at one location in Jefferson County, Missouri.
More on that would reveal how, named as Big Hollow Energy Center, this facility will mainly focus on meeting increased energy demands, while simultaneously ensuring grid resiliency.
“The Big Hollow Energy Center represents more than just an energy project; it’s a commitment to the future of Jefferson County,” said Dennis Gannon, Executive at Jefferson County. “We’ve worked closely with Ameren Missouri over the past several years, and this forward-thinking investment will strengthen our local economy generations to come. We’re proud to partner with Ameren Missouri to help power progress in our community.”
Talk about the whole value proposition on a slightly deeper level, we begin from the fact that Big Hollow Energy Center will provide significant investment and jobs to the community. Boasting synergies with Castle Bluff Energy Center, the natural gas portion of Big Hollow will also have the capabilities to deliver energy on the coldest winter days, hottest summer afternoons, and back up the grid when renewable energy generation is otherwise unavailable.
We briefly touched upon how Ameren Missouri’s first large-scale lithium-ion battery installation will be present on this very location, but what we haven’t yet touched upon is that the stated installation will help batteries get charged at times when excess energy is on the grid.
The planned 400-MW battery storage is also fast-acting asset. We get to say so because it can jump into action within a matter of few moments, thus offering a nimbler approach towards supporting customers’ energy needs. Markedly enough, once fully charged, the entire array could really go on to power thousands of homes for hours, as well as retain overall grid reliability, especially during times of peak energy needs.
This whole development also delivers a rather interesting follow-up to Ameren Missouri’s recent announcement, claiming an acceleration of battery storage capacity, with a total of 1,000 MW planned by 2030 and a total of 1,800 MW by 2042.
“The Jefferson R-VII Board of Education and I deeply appreciate Ameren Missouri’s communication regarding the closure of the Rush Island Energy Center. The company has addressed every concern about its closure and the impact on our students, consistently treating the district with the utmost respect,” said David Haug, Ed.D., superintendent of the Jefferson R-VII School District. “With the Rush Island Energy Center’s closure in October 2024, our primary goal was to retain Ameren as a community partner. We are pleased to continue this partnership with the announcement of the Big Hollow project.”
Among other things, it ought to be acknowledged that relevant natural gas generation and battery storage facilities will operate independently, and at the same time, take advantage of existing energy infrastructure on land Ameren Missouri already owns, reducing construction time and cost for customers.
Assuming the regulatory approval is received in time, the energy center will become functional by 2028.
Founded almost 100 years ago, Ameren’s rise up the ranks has a lot do with providing electric and gas service to more than 1.3 million electric and 135,000 natural gas customers across central and eastern Missouri. The scale of its operations can be better understood once you consider it covers approximately 60 counties and more than 500 communities, including the greater St. Louis area.
“This is the next step to deliver on our strategy to invest in energy infrastructure for our customers’ benefit and provide a balanced generation portfolio,” said Mark Birk, chairman and president of Ameren Missouri. “As we transition our generation for the future, we’ll continue to serve our customers with the reliable energy they expect while also preparing for anticipated increases in demand.”
