100 MW/400 MWh Fluence Energy Storage Project For Long Beach — World’s Largest Li-Ion Battery Storage Project

Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!

AES Energy Storage and Siemens have joined forces to create a new energy storage company called Fluence Energy, which we mentioned recently in a story about the breakthrough prices of renewable energy + storage projects. Fluence COO John Zahurancik has since answered some questions for CleanTechnica about the new company and one of its major new energy storage projects.

What is the purpose of the Long Beach 100 MW/400 MWh energy storage project?

The project has been in development as part of a $2 billion repowering project in Long Beach, CA to replace aging natural gas peakers with a combination of more modern/efficient combined-cycle gas capacity and the world’s largest battery energy storage facility. The 100 MW system will provide critical capacity to meet local reliability needs in the area, while helping California meet its environmental goals.

How long will it take to construct the huge energy storage installation?

Construction for the Alamitos energy storage project will start later this year and is targeted for completion by the end of 2020.

Can you reveal the cost?

The pricing for this system is confidential under the terms of our contract.

What is the expected life cycle or longevity of the batteries?

The Alamitos project is contracted under a 20-year power purchase agreement, and the Fluence array is designed to ensure the system meets the PPA requirements over the full life of the contract.

Do you anticipate that you will be installing other energy storage facilities with the same or similar capacity?

We’re in a scaling-up period for energy storage that’s gaining speed every year. The rise of battery energy storage is similar in scale to that experienced by the solar industry between 2000 and 2015. Utilities and other customers around the globe see that the technology is mature, and the Fluence team has delivered projects for all 8 core energy storage applications on the electric grid over a decade of experience designing, deploying, and operating complete energy storage solutions. However, as we’ve done so, we’ve seen just how many places on the grid storage can provide value where the technology has yet to be adopted.

With the widespread deployment of storage changing the fundamentals of the electric power sector, we anticipate installing other facilities in the future with not just the same, but with both more and less capacity. In many power systems, having multiple 50-megawatt systems at different parts of the grid may more provide flexibility and reliability benefits than having a single 200-megawatt system.

For us, it’s about deploying the right solution at the right scale to solve customers’ energy problems, and prioritizing lasting partnerships to provide the most value over simply delivering products.

Why did Siemens and AES join to create Fluence?

Fluence was founded to deliver on the promise of energy storage to reduce costs, improve power systems, and create a more sustainable future. Countries around the world are making a transition, from centralized power systems designed over a century ago to decentralized and renewable power that’s created closer to where it is needed. Coupled with aging infrastructure, communities around the world are facing significant challenges as they look to modernize their grids for the needs of the next century.

The market for energy storage is expanding, estimated by Bloomberg New Energy Finance to reach $100 billion by 2030. However, in today’s fragmented energy storage market, choosing the right partner is critical to a project’s success.

The Fluence team brings over 10 years of experience designing, deploying, and operating complete energy storage solutions, and will deliver the stability, credibility, and intimate market knowledge that technology startups, battery suppliers, and consumer goods companies lack.

Combined, Fluence’s team has deployed or been awarded a combined 56 projects in 15 countries, with a total installed capacity of 485 MW, the largest advanced battery-based energy storage fleet in the world, spanning all 8 core energy storage applications.

The talent making up Fluence — formerly at AES Energy Storage and Siemens’ storage unit — are fluent in the needs of power customers and able to translate the benefits of new energy storage systems into viable and lower-cost customer solutions.

Lastly, Fluence offers three bankable industrial-strength technology platforms that are optimized to different customer needs. In addition, Fluence delivers to customers unique financing capabilities, access to a global supply chain, sales and support coverage in more than 160 countries, and a comprehensive services suite including advisory and project lifecycle services to propel customers forward.

How many employees does Fluence have? / Is the company growing, or do you expect to add new employees this year?

The Fluence launch combined experienced teams from AES and Siemens, already among the most recognized energy storage companies, into one larger and more capable team. This breadth includes sales and execution teams interacting with customers in more than 20 countries spanning all of the major regions of the globe.

From key locations in the US and Germany, the core team will support the development, engineering, and implementation of new storage arrays for leading power industry customers.

In addition to these teams, the company is actively hiring now as part of the overall expansion. As industry trends accelerate — we absolutely expect and have planned for Fluence to continue growing our group of talented people.

Image Credit: Fluence Energy, but image is not of the actual Alamitos project.


Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.

Latest CleanTechnica TV Video


Advertisement
 
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.

Jake Richardson

Hello, I have been writing online for some time, and enjoy the outdoors. If you like, you can follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JakeRsol

Jake Richardson has 1021 posts and counting. See all posts by Jake Richardson