San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) ordered Mitsubishi Power’s battery storage and equipment for four microgrids the utility is planning.
The total capacity for the utility-scale projects is 39 MW/180MWh.
Mitsubishi Power’s Emerald storage solution includes an integrated plant controller, which is an energy management system and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system with a monitoring and supervisory control platform. The company has a 10-year service agreement with SDG&E.
The California Public Utilities Commission approved the Boulevard, Clairemont, Paradise and Paradise microgrid projects on June 23. They are expected to be online by mid-2023.
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The microgrids will be connected to the existing infrastructure in San Diego to address Summer 2023 reliability, which is crucial given the high energy demands of summer days and evenings.
- The Clairemont Substation Microgrid will be able to power the Balboa Branch Library/Cool Zone, Fire Station 36 and local schools like Lafayette Elementary, Sequoia Elementary Schools and Innovation and CPMA Middle Schools.
- The Boulevard substation microgrid will have the ability to power the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, Fire Station 47, Campo Reservation Fire Station, Cal Fire White Star Station, Campo Tribal Office, Campo Kumeyaay Nation Medical Center, Southern Indian Health Council Campo Clinic, the Boulevard Border Patrol Station, and the Boulevard Post Office
- The Paradise substation microgrid can power Fire Stations 51 and 32 of the Southeast Division Police Department and Bell Middle School as well as Freese Boone and Fulton Elementary.
- The Elliott substation microgrid can power Fire Station 39, Tierrasanta Public Library/Cool Zone and Tierrasanta Medical Center. It will also power Jean Farb Middle School, Canyon Hills High School, Tierrasanta, Kumeyaay Elementary School.
The projects stemmed from Gov. Newsom’s Proclamation of a State Emergency issued last summer, which outlines California’s energy needs in the face of growing climate challenges. The four new projects, slated to be completed in summer 2023, are the latest of a series of energy storage investments by SDG&E, including the opening of Top Gun, a 30 MW facility, in June 2021 and Kearny Energy Storage, a 20 MW facility, in March 2022.
The projects must be commercially feasible by August 1, 2023.
SDG&E has a balance of plant agreement with Morrow Meadows.