Say Hello to the New Biggest Battery in the US

(Greentech Media, 14 Jul 2020) A wave of monster energy storage projects has washed up in Southern California, with LS Power recently flipping on the most powerful one yet.

Things are moving fast in the grid battery industry — and nowhere faster than California.

That’s where LS Power, a private equity firm that develops grid infrastructure, hooked up the new most powerful battery in the country last month. 

The Gateway Energy Storage Project turned on an initial tranche of 62.5 megawatts/62.5 megawatt-hours near San Diego on June 9, according to the California Independent System Operator. 

That beats the previous record-holder for most powerful battery in the U.S., held by LS Power’s 40-megawatt Vista project, which opened in San Diego County with little fanfare in July 2018. Another battery has more storage capacity: the 30-megawatt/120-megawatt-hour Escondido system that AES (now Fluence) supplied to utility San Diego Gas & Electric. For a laid-back beach town, San Diego has a clear monopoly on the nation’s biggest batteries so far. 

That will change soon, though. Power producer Vistra Energy is building the Moss Landing battery in Monterey Bay, California, which involves swapping an old gas-powered plant for 400 megawatts/1,600 megawatt-hours of batteries to support the Bay Area grid. Utility Florida Power & Light is working on a 409-megawatt/900-megawatt-hour battery to shift solar production into the evenings and displace decades-old gas plants. 

External link

Greentech Media, 14 Jul 2020: Say Hello to the New Biggest Battery in the US