FlexGen Power Systems Inc. will provide energy storage technology and software for 420 MW of energy storage across four California sites to Middle River Power. The energy storage projects are collocated with existing simple cycle natural gas peaking plants, and the facilities will share interconnection facilities.
“California has been a global leader in driving the clean energy transition, and this group of innovative projects is another important milestone towards providing the state with a reliable grid built on a foundation of clean energy,” said FlexGen CEO Kelcy Pegler. “We’re proud to be partnering with Middle River Power to deliver increased grid reliability and service to California residents and businesses. Energy storage is critical to the future of the grid, and FlexGen has spent the last decade honing our capabilities to deliver critical energy storage assets to our partners.”
Collocating the natural gas peaking facilities with battery storage results in significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining reliable, flexible reserve capacity. The battery facilities will be used to store solar power during the day and release it when it is most needed during the evening hours. In addition, the gas turbines will dispatch less often than they currently do, resulting in lower emissions, while remaining available to dispatch during extreme conditions.
“The energy storage assets store plentiful solar energy in the middle of the day then deploy that energy to the grid during evening peak hours, while maintaining our natural gas facilities as a flexible, reliable backstop,” said Mark Kubow, president of Middle River Power. “We are excited to introduce our first tranche of projects that takes such a meaningful step in helping California in the transition to more renewable resources.”
Based in Durham, North Carolina, FlexGen’s HybridOS energy management software delivers the full stack of energy storage value, including ancillary services, capacity and energy market trading. The Middle River Power projects build on the company’s rapidly growing fleet of energy storage assets operating throughout the United States.
Middle River Power is a wholly owned independent power company established by Avenue Capital in 2016 to operate, manage and develop the more than 3,000 MW in assets. Based in Chicago, the company has led the commercial development and execution of utility grid-scale solar plus storage and standalone storage development assets in California.
— Solar Builder magazine
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