On July 9 at 7:35 p.m., California’s power grid hit an all-time peak for battery storage.
But that record is just the first of many. All-time peaks—like the 2,519 megawatts on that evening—are going to be happening with regularity as more battery storage systems come online. What’s more interesting is the development of the projects that are helping to set those records, and the implications for transforming the grid into one that doesn’t need fossil fuels.
The big kahuna in California’s battery fleet is Moss Landing Energy Storage, with 400 megawatts of capacity and the ability to run at that level for up to four hours, discharging 1,600 megawatt-hours before needing to be recharged. The plant is back in action after a prolonged period when it was barely running.
California had 3,100 megawatts of utility-scale battery storage systems as of April,…