More mega-battery sites heading to Coachella Valley as California bolsters power grid

An energy storage facility being built near Palm Springs International Airport is just one part of a concerted effort by California to increase energy flexibility across the state.

The state recently enacted regulatory reforms to make it easier to build battery sites that can store energy generated elsewhere and feed it back into the grid when needed. That has helped spark a surge in development in the Coachella Valley and beyond. The facility near the Palm Springs airport will eventually house 13 10-foot batteries, each about the size of a shipping container, that will be able to store a combined 20 megawatts of energy.

Two other sites are in Palm Springs, and the city expects more to be approved in the future. Meanwhile, the Imperial Irrigation District, which provides power to most of the eastern Coachella Valley and all of Imperial County, has four battery storage systems and 26 more in development.

A 2021 state report estimated that California will need about 50 gigawatts of battery power by 2045. That’s a far cry from the 10,000 megawatts reached earlier this year.

For comparison, a gigawatt is 1,000 megawatts, and one megawatt provides enough energy to power 750 homes, according to the California Independent System Operator, or CAISO, which manages the flow of energy statewide and runs the wholesale energy market.

“Energy storage has the potential to provide significant flexibility in balancing the grid by allowing electricity to be consumed after it has been generated,” Vonette Fontaine, a spokeswoman for CAISO, told The Desert Sun in an email. “This in turn allows for further integration of renewable energy sources, as electricity generated during periods of low demand (midday) can be stored for use during periods of higher demand (evening).”

Southern California Edison, which provides power to the western Coachella Valley ANDand most of Southern California were unable to provide an estimate of the number of existing or planned electricity storage facilities in their area.

“They’re particularly useful when there are periods of high demand, such as very hot weather, all at once,” SCE spokesman Jeff Monford said of the battery storage facilities. “The batteries are discharged into the grid to maintain the appropriate energy level.”

By charging during downtime and recovering energy during peak times, energy storage facilities are expected to increase the reliability of the electricity grid, especially as the state transitions to greener methods of energy production, such as solar power.

California’s power demand peaks in the late afternoon. That could be a problem because solar power drops in the afternoon, while wind power hasn’t picked up yet. As the state transitions to renewables, leaders plan for battery storage to make up the difference in peak production and demand.

While energy storage facilities do not necessarily have to be charged from renewable sources, the state considers them clean energy sources.

“While batteries can’t always be charged by renewable energy sources, they typically do get charged during the midday hours when there’s an excess of renewable generation,” said Stacey Shepard, a spokeswoman for the California Energy Commission. “As the share of renewable energy sources increases, so does the share of renewable energy sources charging storage.”

Still, plans to expand battery storage in the state come with some potential drawbacks. The batteries can only provide power for about four hours, according to CAISO, meaning their use must be targeted.

“It is important to optimize the use of battery resources when they are needed most, especially during peak evening demand times,” CAISO said in a 2024 report. “We continue to refine our market rules to ensure batteries are dispatched in line with the reliability needs of the grid.”

Sam Morgen covers Palm Springs for The Desert Sun. Contact him at [email protected].

This article originally appeared in Palm Springs Desert Sun: California pushes for large-scale battery sites as green energy grows