Batteries, not blackouts: California's power grid gets boost from battery energy
SACRAMENTO – As California increases its reliance on renewable energy sources like solar and wind, there's a concern that there may not be enough energy during certain seasons and times of the day to keep the lights on.
But this summer, the state is setting a major milestone in energy storage.
California now has the capacity to store 5,600 megawatts of power using batteries. That's enough to supply more than 4 million homes.
"There's such an important factor that battery energy storage plays," said Paul Doherty with PG&E.
Doherty says the growth of battery storage capacity over the last three years has been exponential.
"In August of 2020, PG&E had 6.5 megawatts of battery energy storage on the grid, and today we have approximately 1200 megawatts," Doherty said.
So why is battery storage needed in California?
"Solar and wind, these are intermittent resources," Doherty said.
Batteries can help provide power in the winter when there's less sunshine – or on summer evenings when it's still hot outside.
"Those peak periods during 4 to 8 p.m. when everyone's getting home [and] starting to use their appliances … the demand for energy really spikes," Doherty said.
Companies like ESS are building large-scale batteries in Sacramento that can also be used as a backup power source for critical sites.
There's now so much battery storage, California Independent System Operator – managers of the state's power grid – has changed its day-to-day monitoring procedures to track how much "charge" is left in the battery fleet.
Building more batteries is the latest effort to ensure California has 100 percent clean energy by the year 2045.
Cal-ISO says the record-breaking amount of snowpack this year is also helping provide more hydroelectric power this summer across the state.
