(Calistoga / USA) – Energy Vault Holdings, Inc., a Swiss-based energy storage specialist, has begun construction of its green hydrogen and battery energy storage (BH-ESS) system in the USA. The system has a capacity of 293 megawatt hours (MWh) and is expandable to 700 MWh.
Replace diesel generators
The black-start “Calistoga Resiliency Center” is being built for the US utility Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) in the northern California city of Calistoga. Completion is expected at the end of the second quarter of 2024. According to the information, it would then be the first of its kind and the largest green hydrogen storage project in the United States.
The battery part is used to support the grids and could provide electricity to downtown Calistoga with important infrastructure such as police and fire departments, as well as surrounding areas, for up to 48 hours if the power lines have to be taken offline for safety reasons due to a high risk of wildfires (PSPS, Public Safety Power Shutoff) – which often happens in parts of the USA. The BH-ESS will replace the traditional mobile diesel generators that currently power the PG&E microgrid in Calistoga.
The green hydrogen used to generate electricity is trailered in tanks to Calistoga. © Energy Vault
The energy storage system remains owned by Energy Vault. It is controlled via its own energy management “VaultOS” and is also operated and maintained by the company. As part of a ten-year agreement, Energy Vault will offer “Distributed Generation-Enabled Microgrid Services”, which will, among other things, regulate voltage and frequency within the utility company's specified parameters and the electricity produced using green hydrogen and stored in lithium-ion batteries deploy during PSPS outages.
PG&E says it is currently developing a portfolio of “new forms of power generation and storage technologies.” Next-generation, cost-effective energy and long-duration storage are "critical to ensuring grid reliability and achieving PG&E's goal of achieving a net-zero energy system by 2040," said Mike Delaney, vice president, utility partnerships and Innovation.
Photos
Rendering of the Calistoga Resiliency Center: The hybrid energy storage system combines fuel cell power generation with lithium-ion batteries and can power downtown Calistoga for 48 hours. © Energy Vault
