Vistra Energy Concludes Expansion at Largest Battery Storage System in California

The Moss Landing battery system expansion project, dubbed the BESS project, has been concluded. At phase 1, the storage facility reached 1,200 MWh and now with the completion of phase 2, the facility is at 1,600 MWh.

Vistra Energy, a power-generation company, brought this project online last year in December at a site that was previously occupied by natural gas turbines at its power plant in the Monterey County, California. LG Energy Solution, which was the project’s Li-ion battery rack supplier, and Vistra Energy celebrated the completion of phase 2 by holding an event that was attended by both companies as well as Burns & McDonnell, their engineering, procurement and construction (“EPC”) partner. Utility Pacific Gas & Electric, representatives from CAISO and California grid, business leaders as well as local and federal authorities were also in attendance.

Vistra Energy CEO Curt Morgan stated that the facility offered California a solution it needed, noting that the expansion had come in good time when the demand for electricity had risen and the summer heat increased. Morgan explained that despite renewable power helping lower emissions, the state of California produced higher amounts of renewable power during the day than was needed but struggled to meet demand in the evening and night, which presented a reliability gap.

He noted that the company’s Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility helped address the issue, as it stored the excess power generated during the day so it wasn’t wasted and then released that stored energy to the grid when it was needed. This expansion makes it the largest battery storage system in the world. Phase 1 of the project has a two-decade contract for resource adequacy while phase 2 has a similar 10-year agreement in place with Pacific Gas & Electric.

Resource adequacy refers to the ways that utilities in the state can offer reliable electricity capacity for their consumers while fulfilling CAISO’s requirements.

The state of California is currently facing a severe shortage of electricity, with Gov. Gavin Newsom recently declaring a state of emergency with a forecasted shortfall of roughly 5,000 MW in the next two years. The governor is currently focused on the state’s objective of establishing an electricity system that is emission free within the next two decades.

One of the event’s attendees, Congressman Jimmy Panetta, noted that Vistra’s energy-storage facility would help build a low-emission and reliable grid, which offered zero-emission power to consumers when they needed it, adding that backup power would bolster the grid’s reliability and stability.

The energy storage segment is seeing plenty of innovation with companies such as StorEn Technologies Inc. determined to develop and commercialize vanadium flow batteries since this chemistry comes with numerous advantages with regard to long-term energy storage.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to StorEn Technologies Inc. are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/StorEn

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