esVolta will develop, build and operate the Black Walnut Energy Storage project in Santa Paula, California
esVolta selected to build battery storage project in California. (Credit: Pixabay/Th G.)
California Choice Energy Authority (CalChoice) has selected esVolta to deliver a new Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery energy storage system.
Under the contract, esVolta will develop, build and operate the Black Walnut Energy Storage project, a 15MW/60MWh facility in Santa Paula, California. The project is expected to begin operations by June 2022.
CalChoice selected the Black Walnut project to provide incremental resource adequacy to ensure that there is sufficient capacity to meet anticipated load growth for each member CCA.
The project will also contribute to California’s to transition to a cleaner and more resilient electric system, by provide an array of energy and ancillary services to the electric grid.
esVolta president Randolph Mann said: “The award of these contracts for our Black Walnut project is an important milestone for esVolta.
“We are extremely pleased to be able to provide cost effective energy storage capacity for these leading CCAs and help them advance their mission to deliver affordable power to homeowners and businesses across their vibrant southern California communities.”
esVolta operates nearly 575MWh of energy storage projects
At present, the energy storage developer has nearly 575MWh of energy storage projects in operation, under construction or under development. Additionally, it has a pipeline of nearly 2GWh of projects across various stages of development.
CalChoice is a hybrid joint powers authority that includes up to five operational community choice aggregations (CCAs) across the cities of Lancaster, Pico Rivera, Rancho Mirage, San Jacinto, and the Town of Apple Valley in California.
CalChoice executive director Jason Caudle said: “We established CalChoice in 2017 and it’s been our goal since then to make a battery energy storage system available for our associate members. Our team is thrilled to be embarking on this project with the experts at esVolta.”
Last August, CalChoice and Avangrid Renewables signed new power purchase agreements for the Mountain View III wind farm in Palm Springs.
Under the agreements, CalChoice will purchase the entire output of the 22.4MW wind farm from next year, on behalf of its members.