Provided by: Daniel Soltero, Program Manager – Energy, WRCOG
In 2019 General Electric (GE) filed plans with the California Energy Commission to demolish its Inland Empire Energy Center (IEEC), a natural gas-fired power plant located in Menifee, CA, nearly 20 years earlier than its expected life cycle. Two years later GE sold the IEEC site to Calpine Corporation (Calpine) which is now nearing the completion of constructing California’s largest battery storage facility, the Nova Power Bank.
Following early 2000s California energy crisis, GE contracted Calpine to construct and operate an 800MW natural gas-fired power plant intended to alleviate the forecasted energy shortfalls in the Golden State. Costing over $500 million and spanning 42 acres at the edge of a newly incorporated city of Menifee, the Inland Empire Energy Center consisted of two GE H-class gas turbines. The facility activated Unit 1 with 400MW output in 2008, and Unit 2 came online in 2010 generating the full 800MW capacity.
Unfortunately, California’s evolving energy market caused the facility to experience economic challenges as renewable energy became more prevalent and the technologies used by the IEEC were not able to meet fast start-up requirements. After ten years of struggling financially and operating below capacity GE announced in 2019 its decision to shut down the Inland Empire Energy Center. By 2021 GE demolished the power plant and sold the site to Calpine who is now constructing one of the nation’s largest battery storage facilities.
Calpine’s Nova Power Bank comes at a nearly $1 billion investment and will provide 680MW and 2.72 GWh which can be dispatched to the grid in a moment’s notice. The site’s 2000 lithium-ion batteries will be charged during the day when there is abundant renewable energy and deliver power back to the grid in the evening hours as solar generation dwindles into the night. This technology will help increase grid resiliency during high demand events such as during a heat wave or energy shortfalls.
In many ways the IEEC site being redeveloped into a battery storage facility from a gas-fired power plant embodies California’s clean energy transition as the State moves away from fossil fuels and towards its goal of having 100% carbon-free energy by 2045. Since the 2020 rolling blackouts, California has seen a steep increase in battery storage installations and the Inflation Reduction Act is expected to incentivize more sites coming online as it introduced investment tax credits for stand-alone storage. Furthermore, U.S. Energy Information Administration is predicting 2024 to be a record-breaking year for battery installations. So as the Nova Power Bank comes online later this year it not only stands at the forefront of innovation, but also symbolizes the state’s commitment to a sustainable future.