Vistra expands Oakland battery project to 36.25 MW/145 MWh

Texas-based Vistra Energy (NYSE:VST) will install 36.25 MW/145 MWh of battery storage capacity at the site of a jet fuel-fired plant that will be phased out in Oakland.

The project is an expansion of a previously announced plan that initially envisaged the construction of a 20 MW/80 MWh facility, Vistra Energy said last week. The battery system will partially replace the ageing Oakland Power Plant, which will be gradually retired and its capacity will be compensated with additional energy storage projects in the future.

"We believe battery energy storage will play an increasingly key role in the reliability of the electric system [..],” said Vistra Energy’s president and CEO Curt Morgan. The company expects that the 36.25-MW/145-MWh installation will go live by January 2022.

The project has been cleared by community choice aggregator East Bay Community Energy (EBCE) and utility Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). Both of them have approved certain amendments in their agreements with Vistra Energy to reflect the increased capacity of the project. PG&E is awaiting approval from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).

Vistra Energy is currently building a 300-MW/1,200-MWh battery storage system in California that will be switched on later this year.

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