The projects are expected to enter into service by August 2022 and 2023
The new energy storage capacity will come from four projects. (Credit: fancycrave1 from Pixabay.)
Southern California Edison (SCE) has signed long-term contracts for 590MW of battery energy storage capacity in the recently conducted solicitation.
The new energy storage capacity will come from four projects and is part of the electric utility’s efforts to enhance the region’s electric system reliability needs.
The new capacity is in addition to SCE’s May acquisition of 770MW of energy storage procurement.
With the latest contracts, SCE takes its total amount of installed and procured battery storage capacity to nearly 2,050MW.
SCE energy procurement & management vice president said: “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.”
SCE contracts include 585MW of utility-scale energy storage projects
Of the four projects contracted by SCE, three are utility-scale projects totaling 585MW and will feature lithium-ion batteries.
The projects include 325MW Desert Peak of NextEra Energy, 200MW Crimson project of Recurrent Energy and 60MW Eldorado Valley project of 174 Power Global / Hanwha Group.
The fourth project, which is a 5MW demand response contract, will use energy from customer-owned energy storage.
The projects are expected to enter into service by August 2022 and 2023.
The contracts are subject to approval from the California Public Utilities Commission and SCE expects to submit them for approval before the end of the year.