The lithium-ion battery is large enough to power the equivalent of 30,000 households.
Portland, Oregon-based GridStor announced it has completed a grid-scale energy storage project in Santa Barbara County, California.
The Goleta Energy Storage facility is a 60 MW / 160 MWh lithium-ion battery energy storage system. It stores enough power for the equivalent of about 30,000 California households. This is enough to supply the city of Goleta’s municipal customer base.
The system is comprised of 44 containerized Tesla batteries manufactured in state in Lathrop, California. NORD/LB provided $55 million of project debt financing to GridStor to complete the development of the facility.
“California has an urgent need for grid reliability as it decarbonizes its economy, and battery storage is the critical resource that meets both challenges,” said Chris Taylor, chief executive officer of GridStor.
The project is the largest power resource in Santa Barbara County and the second battery facility in the region. It was constructed with support from IBEW Local 413 laborers.
“The transition to clean energy takes the support of many partners, from developers and utilities to skilled tradespeople and the local leadership who oversee zoning and permitting, said Taylor. “We could not be prouder to work with the City of Goleta and other stakeholders to bring this facility to life and support California’s goals for clean, reliable energy.”
The facility is expected to help support the existing 900 MW of solar and wind operating in the region for the planned buildout of thousands of megawatts of renewable power over the next decade. GridStor will provide resource adequacy services from the facility to Southern California Edison under a contract while operating the facility in response to market signals from the California Independent System Operator.
“GridStor’s Goleta Energy Storage project will secure grid power for one of our most climate-vulnerable regions as California continues to deploy new, clean power infrastructure in pursuit of our climate and energy goals,” said Rohimah Moly, deputy director of energy & climate at the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development.
