Energy storage plays an important part in ensuring electricity is reliable and clean. To further enhance the reliability of the region’s electric system, Southern California Edison has signed long-term contracts for four projects that will add 590 megawatts of energy storage to the grid.
That is enough energy to power about 200,000 homes.
One of the many ways these flexible energy resources can be used is by capturing solar energy during the day and distributing the energy as the sun sets and energy use increases. They can also be used to respond to the needs of the California Independent System Operator, such as when there are periods of high demand, heat waves or other times when the energy grid is strained.
“Bringing more utility-scale battery storage resources online will improve the reliability of the grid and further the integration of renewable generation resources, like wind and solar, into the grid,” said William Walsh, SCE vice president of Energy Procurement & Management. “As California transitions to 100% clean renewable energy to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate change, battery storage will play a key role in harnessing the value of these cost-effective, carbon-free resources in a reliable manner.”
Bringing more utility-scale battery storage resources online will improve the reliability of the grid and further the integration of renewable generation resources, like wind and solar, into the grid. As California transitions to 100% clean renewable energy to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate change, battery storage will play a key role in harnessing the value of these cost-effective, carbon-free resources in a reliable manner.”
William Walsh, SCE Vice President
Three of the four projects are utility-scale projects totaling 585 MW that will take advantage of lithium-ion batteries that can store energy for use later.
The fourth project is a 5 MW demand response contract that will use energy from residential customer-owned energy storage. Economically impacted communities that suffer most from the effects of air pollution will provide 5% of the MWs for this project.
As laid out in Pathway 2045, SCE estimates the state needs to add 30 GW of utility-scale storage to the grid and 10 GW of storage from distributed energy resources to meet the state’s clean energy and carbon neutrality goals. These new contracts will further help California meet these goals while providing additional grid reliability. They also help improve California’s economy by creating craft and skilled clean energy jobs while reducing GHG emissions.
The contracts will require California Public Utilities Commission approval and SCE expects to submit the contracts for approval before the end of the year.
