Power Vault, a sustainable grid-scale vitality storage options supplier, began building on a utility-scale inexperienced hydrogen + battery lengthy period vitality storage system (BH-ESS) with 293 MWh of dispatchable carbon-free vitality in Calistoga, California.
A rendering of the Calistoga inexperienced hydrogen + battery storage venture.
Development of the BH-ESS, which is being developed for Pacific Fuel and Electrical Firm (PG&E) on lower than one acre of land, is anticipated to be accomplished by the tip of Q2 2024. Upon completion, the BH-ESS, dubbed the Calistoga Resiliency Middle, would be the first-of-its-kind and the most important utility-scale inexperienced hydrogen vitality storage venture in the US.
The battery portion of the system shall be used to help grid forming and blackout response. The system shall be ready to energy downtown Calistoga and the encompassing space for as much as 48 hours throughout potential Public Security Energy Shutoffs (PSPS), which happen when the powerlines serving the encompassing space have to be turned off for security because of excessive wildfire danger. PG&E’s proposal for the system was accepted by the California Public Utilities Fee (CPUP) in April 2023.
Power Vault’s BH-ESS will substitute the standard cellular diesel turbines presently used to energise PG&E’s Calistoga microgrid throughout PSPS occasions.
“The well timed begin of building is a vital milestone in our partnership with PG&E to ship this primary of its type microgrid answer. We enormously sit up for not solely its supply however most significantly to the sustainability advantages it should convey to the Calistoga neighborhood,” mentioned Marco Terruzzin, CCO and product officer, Power Vault. “Our partnership with California’s largest public utility is yet one more instance of the rising recognition that optimizing grid resiliency and economics towards attaining decarbonization objectives requires innovation that leverages a number of applied sciences and a ‘fit-for-purpose’ customer-centric strategy when designing vitality storage options. Town of Calistoga and PG&E have been glorious companions for Power Vault, and we’re excited to convey this revolutionary venture on-line within the coming months.”
The vitality storage system shall be owned, operated and maintained by Power Vault whereas offering dispatchable energy beneath a long-term tolling settlement with PG&E. The corporate will use its VaultOS Power Administration System to regulate, handle and optimize the BH-ESS operations. The system has been developed beneath the umbrella of Power Vault’s H-VAULT suite of hybrid configurations utilizing inexperienced hydrogen and batteries, to make sure continuity and resilience throughout PSPS occasions.
“Deploying cost-effective, next-generation vitality provide and long-term storage applied sciences is important to making sure grid reliability and to attaining PG&E’s objective of a web zero vitality system by 2040,” mentioned Mike Delaney, VP of utility partnerships and innovation, PG&E. “PG&E is growing a portfolio of promising new types of electrical energy technology and storage applied sciences, and figuring out the best functions that may help the additional proliferation of those applied sciences on the lowest capital price and highest-impact places.”
Below the ten.5-year settlement, Power Vault will present “Distributed Technology-Enabled Microgrid Providers” — a sort of vitality service that entails utilizing grid-forming technology and storage sources, to offer vitality, fault present contribution and to manage voltage and frequency inside the utility’s established parameters to island the Calistoga microgrid throughout PSPS outages. The answer is designed to function throughout PSPS occasions, serving all of the load inside a safe-to-energize space in Calistoga, together with crucial amenities resembling hearth stations, and shared companies within the downtown and surrounding space.
Information merchandise from Power Vault
