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With the arrival of autumn in the northern hemisphere, California breaks the record for the highest instantaneous use of utility-scale battery capacity, with a long stretch exceeding 2 GWh of production. On September 24, 2023, between 18:40 and 18:45 local time, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) recorded a power input of 5,223 GW into the grid from scale-grid batteries. of public service, as reported by Gridstatus.io log tracking tools. Furthermore, as of 5:40 p.m. that Sunday, the CAISO recorded that battery production exceeded 2 GW, maintaining that value until 8:40 p.m., a solid three-hour window. This production represents approximately 83% of the 6,278 GW of battery energy storage connected to the CAISO grid, according to the US Department of Energys September EIA 860-M report. The report highlighted that ten projects with a total capacity of 854 MW were activated in July and August. According to CASIO records, at least two more installations have since been commissioned, one of 137 MW and another of 12.5 MW, bringing the summer total to just over 1 GW of added energy storage. Sunday nights battery record was accompanied by near-record solar power production of more than 15.5 GW of utility-scale capacity. This achievement was followed by a true solar production record on Monday, with 16.05 GW of instantaneous production at 11:32 a.m. on September 26. To this commercial-scale solar production must be added about 10 GW of behind-the-meter solar generation not included in the main CAISO graphs. What makes these records notable is their timing. Solar records are typically set in late spring, while energy storage records, a still new and developing metric, have typically been set during record heat waves. These records, however, came after significant capacity growth outside of the usual summer months. Californias energy storage record shows the states success in meeting ambitious deployment goals. Initial forecasts from summer 2019 had anticipated potential shortfalls of up to 4.7 GW of capacity during summer 2022. The analysis indicated a potential capacity shortfall of 4.7 GW during peak demand in the summer months, historically September, expected in 2022. However, as we head into summer 2023, California has challenged these expectations. The state has already deployed ample energy storage capacity, much of it backed by four hours of storage, fully covering the projected shortfall. |
