The California Energy Commission (CEC) has approved a $42 million grant to International Electric Power to build a long-duration energy storage project at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in San Diego County.
The project will not only provide electricity to the statewide grid and backup power to the base for up to 14 days during power outages but also help improve the resiliency of California's electricity grid, the region and the base, providing a replicable model to be applied broadly.
The project will be installed at the base’s Haybarn Energy Reliability Center and will provide 6 MW/48 MWh of energy storage using zinc hybrid cathode aqueous battery technology, initially and expand to 50 MW/400 MWh, later.
While the system will provide power to the statewide grid when it is not providing backup power to the base, it will also reduce GHG emissions by replacing fossil fuel-powered back-up generation and demonstrate solutions. The solutions can be scaled and replicated to meet the state’s climate and clean energy goals. The system is expected to be operational in summer 2027.
According to the CEC estimates, more than 48 GW of traditional battery storage and 4 GW of long-duration energy storage will be required to achieve the state’s goal of 100 percent clean electricity by 2045. The project will support the Marine Corps' West Coast training facility, which coveres more than 125,000 acres in San Diego County.
The grant was awarded through the CEC’s Long-Duration Energy Storage Program, which is funded by Governor Gavin Newsom’s assurance to combat climate change. The program invests in demonstrations of non-lithium-ion technologies to create a portfolio of 8-hour-plus energy storage technologies. $170 million has been awarded for seven projects until now.
