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    Wärtsilä delivering 2-GWh Energy Storage capacity to support Utility-Scale Solar projects in western U.S.

    July 11, 2022
    The portfolio includes the Daggett 2 and Daggett 3 projects, with 482 MW of solar PV and 275 MW / 1.1 GWh of energy storage. The Daggett projects are in San Bernardino, California, adjacent to the site of a retired coal and natural gas plant
    Image credit Wärtsilä
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    Finnish on-site power technology firm Wärtsilä is delivering 500 MW/2 GWh in battery storage capacity for Clearway Energy Group projects in California and Hawaii.

    The contracts cover five project states in those two states. Construction on all of those utility-scale energy storage sites is expected to be completed by 2023.

    Large-scale batteries provide a significant grid support and balancing asset coupled with renewable energies such as wind and solar. The latter now combine to make up more than 10 percent of the total U.S. generation portfolio, with at least a 44-percent market share expected by 2050, according to the federal Energy Information Administration.

    “The U.S. is a bellwether for the global energy transition and projects like these demonstrate that decarbonization is possible on a grand scale anywhere in the world,” said Håkan Agnevall, President and CEO, Wärtsilä Energy, in a statement. “Energy storage as a flexible balancing power asset is an essential component for a 100 percent renewable energy future.”

    The portfolio includes the Daggett 2 and Daggett 3 projects, with 482 MW of solar PV and 275 MW / 1.1 GWh of energy storage. The Daggett projects are in San Bernardino, California, adjacent to the site of a retired coal and natural gas plant.

    The AC-coupled energy storage systems will deliver renewable energy during increasingly volatile peak periods and help the state reach its goal of 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2045. The order for Daggett 3 was booked to Wärtsilä order intake in Q3 2021, and the order for Daggett 2 was booked in Q4 2021. Construction has commenced on both projects with expected completion dates in 2023.

    Two projects, comprising 75 MW/ 300 MWh (megawatt hour) of energy storage, are being installed at Clearway Energy Group’s Mililani I Solar and Waiawa Solar Power facilities on the Island of Oahu in Hawaii. The addition of energy storage will help Clearway Energy Group ensure reliable delivery of sustainable energy and contribute to Hawaii’s goal of reaching 100 percent renewable energy generation by 2045.

    The orders for Mililani I Solar and Waiawa Solar Power were booked to Wärtsilä order intake in Q1 2021, and construction is expected to finalize in 2022. The projects are Wärtsilä’s first large-scale energy storage systems in Hawaii.

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    The fifth project in the portfolio is a 147 MW / 588 MWh energy storage system that will be connected to the operating 192 MW Rosamond Central solar PV facility in Kern County, California. The energy storage system will increase the effectiveness of the solar facility by performing ancillary services, primarily solar shifting, for the California Independent System Operator. The order was booked to Wärtsilä order intake in July 2022 and construction is expected to be completed in December 2023.

    Wärtsilä is utilizing its GridSolv Quantum energy storage system with the GEMS Digital Energy Platform for energy management.

    The Finnish company, long known for its large-scale engine gen-sets, is making big moves in the energy storage space. Last year, it announced a contract to deliver a 25-MW/48-MWh package for GIGA Storage BV to help establish the Dutch grid.

    Wärtsilä also entered the Belgian energy storage market by supplying a 25-MW/100-MWh system.

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    (Rod Walton, senior editor for EnergyTech, is a 14-year veteran of covering the energy industry both as a newspaper and trade journalist. He can be reached at [email protected]).

    Follow us on Twitter @EnergyTechNews_ and @rodwaltonelp

    About the Author

    Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor | Senior Editor

    For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].

    Rod Walton has spent 15 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

    He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.

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