Mexico plans cross-border green energy storage unit

MEXICO CITY Dec 8 (Reuters) - Mexico is building its first major green energy storage unit to warehouse electricity generated from wind and solar farms that can be used on both sides of the border, the company building the project said on Wednesday.

Rubenius, a Dubai-based global energy company, will invest $4 billion to build the 1,000 megawatt storage facility in Baja, California, and will start construction by mid-2011, continually bringing on line capacity until the project is finished in 5 years.

Local power generators, including Mexico's Federal Electricity Commission, or CFE, have expressed interest in using the energy stored at the plant, the company's Chief Executive Claus Rubenius said in a telephone interview.

There are already wind farms on the Mexican side of the border and wind and solar plants on the U.S. side that could feed into the facility, he said.

Rubenius announced the investment with Mexico's president Felipe Calderon in Cancun at global climate change talks. Mexico is pushing green power alternatives as countries try to hammer out an agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

"We expect 60 percent (of the usage) to come from the United States and 40 percent from Mexico," Rubenius said.

The warehouse will be built on 346 acres (140 hectares) of land in the Baja peninsula.

"With wind turbines producing energy at night, and solar in the middle of the day, Rubenius' energy warehouse will enable power companies to store energy for use during peak demand by consumers," the company said in a statement. (Reporting by Mica Rosenberg)