San Diego Gas & Electric is continuing to add to its battery energy storage portfolio to support further penetration of renewable energy sources.
The utility hosted a ribbon cutting on March 29 for the 20 MW/80 MWh lithium-ion battery storage project in the Kearny Mesa area of San Diego.
“Investing in advanced technologies like energy storage is critical to advancing our state’s and region’s aggressive climate goals, including getting to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, with the added benefit of building a more resilient energy grid,” said SDG&E CEO Caroline Winn. “Project by project, step by step, we are making progress toward a cleaner, safer, and more reliable energy future.”
SDG&E's Top Gun Energy Storage facility is a 30 MW/120 MWh lithium-ion battery energy storage system with the capability of serving about 20,000 residential customers for four hours.Construction of the Kearny Energy Storage Project began in April 2021. SDG&E had previously planned for the project to be completed in the summer or early fall of 2021. It's unclear what caused the delay.
SDG&E completed the 30 MW/120 MWh lithium-ion Top Gun Energy Storage facility last June. Both Top Gun and Kearny Mesa battery storage facilities can be dispatched by the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) to support the grid.
With the addition of the Kearny Energy Storage Project, the utility now owns about 65 MW of energy storage capacity. SDG&E set a goal of owning and operating 145 MW of energy storage capacity by the end of 2022 and 330 MW by the end of 2030.
Rapid energy storage deployment is crucial for California to achieve its clean energy and climate change goals. The state aims to supply 100% carbon-free electricity to customers by 2045.
A joint report issued last year by the California Energy Commission, California Public Utilities Commission, and California Air Resources Board found the state may need to build up to 6 GW of new renewable energy storage resources annually to meet its goal.
In February, the California Public Utilities Commission approved plans to add around 25,500 MW of renewable energy resources and 15,000 MW of energy storage and demand response resources. Most of the energy storage procured by California utilities is in the form of four-hour, lithium-ion battery systems.
