Vistra Moss Landing Phase III expansion complete

MOSS LANDING – Vistra recently announced the completion of its Phase III expansion at its Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility, and though Monterey County has yet to hold the public town hall meeting it postponed from March to discuss the battery energy storage systems and emergency events that have occurred there in the recent past, it has announced a forum for next month.

The Moss Landing Lithium Ion Battery Energy Storage System town hall meeting was cancelled more than five months ago due to the Pajaro River flood. Monterey County spokesperson, Maia Carroll, said the rescheduled town hall is marked for Sept. 20, from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at the North County Recreation Center, 11261 Crane St. in Castroville.

The town hall is to provide information about the impacts of recent incidents at the storage facility on the community and rising concerns from citizens. A tentative list of speakers include Monterey County District 2 Supervisor Glenn Church whose district includes Moss Landing. Other representatives may include those from Monterey County Administrative Office, Department of Emergency Management, Environmental Health Bureau, Housing and Community Development, Sheriff’s Office, North County Fire Protection District, Pacific Gas and Electric and Vistra Energy Corporation.

Vistra’s Phase III expansion went into operation June 2 and completed the 350-megawatt/1,400-megawatt-hour portion of its Moss Landing facility, bringing its total capacity to 750 MW/3,000 MWh, the largest of its kind in the world. It stores power and releases it to California’s grid and operates under a 15-year resource adequacy agreement with Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

“As we navigate this energy transition to cleaner fuel sources, the ability to balance that shift with both reliability and affordability is paramount,” said Vistra president and CEO Jim Burke, in a news release. “Continued investment in energy storage, like our Moss Landing site, allows us to harness and store a substantial and growing amount of power from intermittent renewables and then deliver that electricity when customers need it most.”

Vistra takes the existing power plant site and existing transmission apparatus to bring in excess green energy from renewable solar and wind energy sources and charges utility-scale batteries, storing the excess energy until it is needed.

Vistra’s continued partnership with PG&E allows it to bring its expertise in energy storage to bolster the reliability of California’s growing renewable portfolio and and provide much-needed power to its residents, said Burke.

According to Vistra, the Phase III project is made up of 122 individual containers that together house more than 110,000 battery modules, was completed on schedule and within budget in just 16 months, despite a challenging supply chain environment and tremendous rainfall.

The Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility is co-located on the site of Vistra’s existing natural gas-fueled Moss Landing Power Plant in Monterey County that has provided electricity to the state since 1950.

Since Moss Landing started to house battery energy storage systems at the Moss Landing Power Plant site at Dolan Road and Highway 1, there have been at least three incidents concerning the lithium ion batteries including the latest one nearly a year ago in September that closed Highway 1 in both directions and prompted a shelter-in-place order for the surrounding area. The move was due to the possibility the smoke from the event could contain toxins from the burning lithium ion batteries.

Both Pacific Gas and Electric Company and Vistra Energy Corporation have battery energy storage systems at the former Moss Landing Power Plant site where each has contended with fire incidents.

In a previous report from March, Supervisor Church said this is an opportunity “to answer people’s questions and put information out there,” adding that the worst thing to happen is for there to be a lack of clarity and truth about the facts of the battery energy storage systems at Moss Landing.

The original gas-powered Pacific Gas and Electric facility at Moss Landing began commercial operation in 1950. The company sold the Moss Landing power plant to Duke Energy North America in 1998. The facility changed hands from Duke Energy to LS Power in 2006, then to Dynegy in 2007. In 2017, Dynegy moved to reduce its power generation.

In 2018, Vistra Energy merged with Dynegy. That same year, the California Public Utilities Commission approved Vistra’s 20-year resource adequacy contract with Pacific Gas and Electric Company in which Vistra would develop and operate a battery energy storage system.

In April, 2022, Pacific Gas and Electric Company and Tesla ramped up their jointly designed and constructed Elkhorn Battery System which is maintained by PG&E and represents another of the world’s largest utility-owned lithium-ion battery energy storage systems.

Vistra Zero is the company’s zero-carbon generation portfolio, including battery storage, solar and nuclear assets.

Executing on its commitment to grow its zero-carbon portfolio has made Vistra a market leader in battery energy storage, as it now owns the second-most energy storage capacity in the country, according to the release. In addition to its California assets, Vistra owns and operates two solar facilities, one solar-plus-storage facility, and a 260-MW storage facility, all in Texas.

Additionally, Vistra has a pipeline of projects, including four solar installations and 10 other storage and solar-plus-storage facilities, all in various stages of development in Illinois and Texas.

With a commitment to affordability, reliability and sustainability, Vistra announced earlier this year its intention to further grow its zero-carbon portfolio through the acquisition of Energy Harbor’s 4,000-MW nuclear fleet, says the company. Once the transaction closes, which is expected later this year, Vistra will own and operate the second-largest competitive nuclear fleet in the country, with 6,400 MW of carbon-free nuclear power. The company also continues to operate a large, dispatchable power fleet that brings flexibility and reliability while the country continues to transition to low-carbon resources.

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