California energy regulators awarded a $42 million grant to energy firm International Electric Power to develop a long-duration energy storage project to provide up to two weeks of backup power to Camp Pendleton in San Diego County, Calif., one of the largest and most energy-intensive U.S. Marine Corps installations.
The funding from the California Energy Commission, announced Dec. 11, will allow construction at the 125,000-acre base of what is set to be the largest such energy storage project at a U.S. Defense Dept. facility. The zinc hybrid cathode aqueous battery system is expected to provide 6 MW/48 MWh of storage, with plans to later expand capacity to 50 MW/400 MWh.
The total cost of the system's initial installation is estimated at $70 million, according to the commission, with the developer set to provide other funding.
Lakeside, Calif.-based Global Power Group Inc., which specializes in clean energy backup power and resilience projects, has been selected as the contractor, said Michael Firenze, developer senior vice president who leads the teams responsible for design, engineering, procurement, construction, and operation of the Camp Pendleton project.
“There are opportunities for vendors or subcontractors on this project, and there will be many more long-duration energy storage projects in the future,” he noted.
The energy storage system, expected to be operate by summer 2027, is designed to provide backup power for outages of up to 14 days at the base, where as many as 70,000 military and civilian personnel can be found during the day. More routinely, the battery system will help manage the California electrical grid by storing energy during times of overproduction and distributing it when there is demand.
A commission study of the proposal released earlier this month says the batteries’ zinc cathode chemistry "is extremely stable” and “not subject to thermal runaway,” avoiding the need for a specific fire suppression system, unlike lithium-ion-based battery systems.
Commission Chair David Hochschild emphasized the significance of long-duration energy storage in achieving California’s goal of 100% clean electricity by 2045. “This project will help transform how we store and use renewable energy, ensuring reliability during extreme conditions,” he said.
The state has grown its battery storage capacity by more than 17 times in the past five years to more than 13.3 GW of installed capacity, up from 770 MW in 2019, the commission said
The Camp Pendleton project is the largest grant award to date under the state’s Long-Duration Energy Storage Program and is expected to provide a template for energy storage facilities at other military facilities. Located at the base’s Haybarn Energy Reliability Center, the system is designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by replacing fossil fuel-powered backup generators.
