Crimson Storage is now running in the California Desert, as reported by Electrek. This is the world's largest single-phase battery and is the second-largest energy storage project. It is a 350 megawatt (MW)/1400 megawatt-hour (MWh) battery storage project specifically located west of Blythe in Riverside County.
The construction and battery energy storage systems are by Canadian Solar, while the long-term owners of Crimson Storage are Axium Infrastructure and Recurrent Energy.
With this, over 47,000 homes each year is expected to be supplied with energy. Currently, Crimson Storage has two long-term contracts with local utilities.
California's Governor Gavin Newsom celebrates the project's inauguration. According to Newsom, the project epitomized California leadership. He also said that fast-tracking clean energy projects link this will help California reach its goal of 100 per cent emissions-free electricity by its 2045 target.
Long-Term Tolling Agreements
Crimson Storage already has long-term tolling agreements with two main Investor-Owned Utilities (IOUs) in the state. Southern California Edison (SCE) has a 14-year and10-month long contract for 200MW/800MWh. On the other hand, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) has a 15-year contract with Canadian Solar and Axium for 150MW/600MWh.
However, the PG&E contract is a capacity payment structure for Resource Adequacy (RA), which is the main mechanism by which the state's load-serving entities should maintain reliable sufficient power supply for customers.
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The Future of Energy Storage
California is one of the great hubs for clean energy, especially on the storage side.
The fact that California utilities have long-term contracts with Crimson Storage as well as other battery storage projects under construction are a sign that the state is pressing forward with its clean energy agenda.
It is, thus, no surprise that California is poised to become the world's capital of energy storage. It is attributed to the state's ground-breaking policies inclusive of storage pronouncements, storage market solutions, storage compensation mechanisms and storage incentives.
Energy storage is important to the future of the United States. In particular, it will help California combat climate change and continue to improve the quality of life for the state's residents. With that, more storage projects and the accompanying infrastructure will start to go live. More and more battery storage projects will help to facilitate the state's clean energy future.
Utilities, particularly those in California, will find it more worthwhile to install more storage systems in their grids. With more batteries in the grid, they can better optimize the grid and keep it at the right frequency. More batteries will also mean more flexibility in how to move the power around. It may also result in lower costs.
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Written by April Fowell
