The world’s overloaded power grids are on the cusp of a megabattery boom. California, keen to avoid last year’s blackouts, could add more than 2 gigawatts of energy storage, including from batteries, by summer. The frenzied rush to claim the title of “biggest battery” started in 2017, when Tesla Inc. and French renewable energy company Neoen SA installed the first 100-megawatt lithium-ion storage project in Australia. As systems get bigger, they can store and dispatch more energy. That’s seen the titleholder changing frequently—leading to Vistra Corp.’s 300MW Moss Landing project in California claiming the current top spot.
TODAY’S No. 1
● Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility
Monterey County, Calif.
Initial capacity: 300MW; 1,200 megawatt-hours
After expansion: 400MW; 1,600MWh
The system, consisting of more than 4,500 stacked battery racks, each with 22 battery modules, began operating in December. It can power 225,000 homes during peak-electricity pricing periods for four hours. Moss Landing, developed by Vistra, captures excess electricity from the grid. An expansion should be complete by August.
KEY PREDECESSOR
● Hornsdale Power Reserve
near Jamestown, South Australia
Initial capacity: 100MW; 129MWh
After expansion: 150MW; 193.5MWh
A 100MW-capacity first phase, installed in 2017, became the world’s biggest battery, but was eclipsed by a larger site in San Diego County, Calif., last year. The facility, developed by French renewable energy company Neoen and using Tesla’s Powerpack batteries, has helped to stabilize South Australia’s renewables-heavy grid and to reduce the risks of blackouts.
POSSIBLE SUCCESSOR
● Anbaric Renewable Energy Center
Somerset, Mass.
Planned capacity: 400MW
One of the next big battery projects was announced in 2019 for a former coal-fired power plant site. Anbaric’s project could be up and running as soon as 2024. The battery has an estimated cost of $400 million. Anbaric designs its projects with four hours of storage.
Bloomberg