California’s clean energy revolution is marching ahead with power utility Glendale Water & Power (GWP) receiving approval to replace its gas-powered Grayson Power Plant with a combination of renewables, energy storage and thermal generation.
The California, US, company has been given the go ahead to install 75MW/300MWh of energy storage alongside 50MW of distributed energy resources and 93MW of thermal generation, from up to five internal combustion engines, by the Glendale City Council, in Los Angeles county.
The utility must also continue to seek alternatives that would enhance the sustainability of the company and reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.
Original plans for repowering the 80-year-old power plant, which will be retired in 2021, was to add 262MW of combined cycle, and combustion turbine capacity. Those plans were dismissed 16 months ago, with GWP told to find ‘clean’ alternatives.
Repowering the plant is part of the city’s Integrated Resource Plan to cut reliance on fossil fuels. It is in line with the state’s mandate to reach 60% renewables by 2030 and have a 100% clean energy supply by 2045.
The decision to move away from fossil fuels mirrors similar plans by fellow Californian power supplier, East Bay Community Energy (EBCE) in Alameda County.
In June the organisation awarded grants to fund a 20MW/80MWh battery installation to partly replace an aging, jet fuel-fired power plant in Oakland.
The batteries are a part of a joint effort by EBCE and investor-owned utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) called the Oakland Clean Energy Initiative.
The companies’ plan is to replace the plant acquired by Vistra in 2018, with clean energy resources. The project is expected to be online by January 2022. The contract with Vistra Energy covers a 10-year period.
The EBCE has also granted funds for a 20-year contract covering a 100MW solar-plus 30MW storage project in Fresno County, starting in December 2022.
EDP Renewables, the American renewables division of Energias de Portugal, is the developer.
In 2010, California ratified legislation that set out goals for the state’s three investor owned utilities to deploy 1.3GW of storage by 2020, of which PG&E must add 580MW.