The 131MW Westside Canal project located in Imperial Valley - home to a high concentration of solar, wind, and geothermal generation facilities - is the largest storage asset in SDG&E's utility-owned energy storage portfolio; the 40MW Fallbrook project, located in Northern San Diego County, is the second largest in its portfolio. SDG&E's energy storage portfolio is expected to reach 345 MW of power capacity by the end of the year, sufficient to meet over 15% of its customers' load on a typical day and 7% on a system peak day. These energy storage assets participate in the energy markets managed by the California Independent System Operator, allowing CAISO to store and dispatch clean energy from the facilities to meet electricity demand as needed.
"The beauty of energy storage is it can help California solve two problems simultaneously. It can soak up surplus renewable energy during the day, so solar and wind farms don't have to cut off production when demand on the grid is low," said SDG&E's Vice President of Energy Innovation Miguel Romero. "By extending the availability of clean energy to peak evening hours, energy storage can also help California achieve its clean energy goals by reducing reliance on conventional power plants to meet peak electricity demand."
In recent years, as wind and solar generation capacity has soared in California, renewable generation facilities have had to increasingly curtail, or scale back, energy production to keep the grid balanced. At times, California has had to pay neighboring states to take its oversupply of solar energy in order to avoid overloading the grid.
In recent years, California has also experienced repeated grid emergencies during record heat waves, which pushed the grid to the brink due to energy demand exceeding supply.
"With our state experiencing more frequent climate extremes such as record heat waves and droughts, it is essential to invest in innovations like energy storage to make sure we can continue to power the world's 4th largest economy reliably," said CAISO President and CEO Elliot Mainzer. "The rapid growth of energy storage in California in recent years gives me optimism about our state's future and its capacity to respond to climate change."
Westside Canal consists of more than 800 cubes of stacked lithium-ion batteries which stretch across roughly 16 acres of land. It began commercial operation in June. Like Westside Canal, the Fallbrook energy storage project is also made up of stacks of lithium-ion batteries tightly packed inside metal cubes. The Fallbrook project began commercial operation in May. Both facilities are equipped with safety features, remote monitoring, and automation technologies. When smoke or other anomalies are detected, the units will automatically shut down.
The completion of these projects follows two other utility-owned storage projects SDG&E has brought online in recent years. The company finished the Top Gun Energy Storage Facility (30MW) in the Miramar area of San Diego in 2021 and the Kearny Energy Storage Facility (20MW) in the Kearny Mesa area of San Diego in 2022.
SDG&E is an innovative energy delivery company that provides clean, safe and reliable energy to better the lives of the people it serves in San Diego and southern Orange counties. The company is committed to creating a sustainable future by increasing energy delivered from low or zero-carbon sources; accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles; and investing in innovative technologies to ensure the reliable operation of the region's infrastructure for generations to come. SDG&E is a subsidiary of Sempra (NYSE: SRE). For more information, visit SDGEnews.com or connect with SDG&E on Twitter (@SDGE), Instagram (@SDGE) and Facebook.
This press release contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions with respect to the future, involve risks and uncertainties, and are not guarantees. Future results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statement. These forward-looking statements represent our estimates and assumptions only as of the date of this press release. We assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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Factors, among others, that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statement include risks and uncertainties relating to: California wildfires, including potential liability for damages regardless of fault and any inability to recover all or a substantial portion of costs from insurance, the wildfire fund established by California Assembly Bill 1054, rates from customers or a combination thereof; decisions, investigations, inquiries, regulations, issuances or revocations of permits, consents, approvals or other authorizations, renewals of franchises, and other actions by (i) the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and other governmental and regulatory bodies and (ii) the U.S. and states, counties, cities and other jurisdictions therein in which we do business; the success of business development efforts and construction projects, including risks in (i) completing construction projects or other transactions on schedule and budget, (ii) realizing anticipated benefits from any of these efforts if completed, and (iii) obtaining the consent or approval of third parties; litigation, arbitrations and other proceedings, and changes to laws and regulations; cybersecurity threats, including by state and state-sponsored actors, of ransomware or other attacks on our systems or the systems of third-parties with which we conduct business, including the energy grid or other energy infrastructure, all of which have become more pronounced due to recent geopolitical events; our ability to borrow money on favorable terms and meet our obligations, including due to (i) actions by credit rating agencies to downgrade our credit ratings or place those ratings on negative outlook or (ii) rising interest rates and inflation; failure of our counterparties to honor their contracts and commitments; the impact on affordability of our customer rates and our cost of capital and on our ability to pass through higher costs to customers due to (i) volatility in inflation, interest rates and commodity prices, (ii) the cost of the energy transition in California, and (iii) departing retail load resulting from additional customers transferring to Community Choice Aggregation and Direct Access; the impact of climate and sustainability policies, laws, rules, regulations, disclosures and trends, including actions to reduce or eliminate reliance on natural gas, increased uncertainty in the political or regulatory environment for California natural gas distribution companies, the risk of nonrecovery for stranded assets, and our ability to incorporate new technologies; weather, natural disasters, pandemics, accidents, equipment failures, explosions, terrorism, information system outages or other events that disrupt our operations, damage our facilities or systems, cause the release of harmful materials or fires or subject us to liability for damages, fines and penalties, some of which may not be recoverable through regulatory mechanisms or insurance or may impact our ability to obtain satisfactory levels of affordable insurance; the availability of electric power, natural gas and natural gas storage capacity, including disruptions caused by failures in the transmission grid, pipeline system or limitations on the withdrawal of natural gas from storage facilities; changes in tax and trade policies, laws and regulations, including tariffs, revisions to international trade agreements and sanctions, such as those imposed in connection with the war in Ukraine, any of which may increase our costs, reduce our competitiveness, impact our ability to do business with certain counterparties, or impair our ability to resolve trade disputes; and other uncertainties, some of which are difficult to predict and beyond our control.
These risks and uncertainties are further discussed in the reports that the company has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These reports are available through the EDGAR system free-of-charge on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov, and on Sempra's website, www.sempra.com. Investors should not rely unduly on any forward-looking statements.
Sempra Infrastructure, Sempra Infrastructure Partners, Sempra Texas, Sempra Texas Utilities, Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC (Oncor) and Infraestructura Energética Nova, S.A.P.I. de C.V. (IEnova) are not the same companies as the California utilities, San Diego Gas & Electric Company or Southern California Gas Company, and Sempra Infrastructure, Sempra Infrastructure Partners, Sempra Texas, Sempra Texas Utilities, Oncor and IEnova are not regulated by the CPUC.
