AES’ subsidiary AES Alamitos has started the construction of a 640MW natural gas power plant and 100 MW battery energy storage system.
The new project will replace the existing AES Alamitos Generating Station on Studebaker Road in Long Beach, in the US state of California.
AES stated that the California Energy Commission (CEC) had issued permission for the new combined-cycle gas plant this April, only after conducting years of planning and review which included extensive environmental review and public hearing process.
The new Alamitos Energy Center (AEC), which will be half the size of the existing plant, will avoid the use of ocean water for cooling and cut fresh water consumption by up to 70%. The plant will also allow the inclusion of high efficiency emissions control technology, apart from creating local jobs.
AES Alamitos Energy president Stephen O'Kane said: “We're excited to move forward to the construction phase of this important project and look forward to working with the community every step of the way.
"We'd like to thank the Long Beach community for its support of this project, which will not only provide electrical reliability critical to Long Beach and Southern California, but also generate jobs and economic growth while helping California meet its environmental goals."
Earlier this month, AES closed a $2bn non-recourse financing for its 1.4GW Southland Repowering project in Southern California. The repowering project consists of 1,284MW of combined cycle gas-fired generation and 100MW of four-hour duration, battery-based energy storage.