Gravity-based energy storage company Energy Vault is to immediately begin deploying a previously-announced 275MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project in California for Wellhead Electric and W Power.
The NYSE-listed company has signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with developers Wellhead Electric and W Power, it announced last week (8 September).
The project was first announced in Energy Vault’s second quarter earnings release at the start of August, when it claimed it would see US$680 million of revenue over 2022 and 2023 combined.
It said in a press release it would ‘begin deployment immediately’ of the 68.8MW/272.5MWh at W Power’s Energy Reliability Center, a 98MW gas-fired facility in Stanton, and is expected to be completed in mid-2023. Called Stanton ESS, it will be one of the largest energy storage systems in southern California, the companies have claimed.
It will be based on the proprietary system design and Energy Management Software (EMS) from its Energy Vault Solutions (EVS) segment, which provides “technology-neutral’ energy storage solutions and is headed by John Jung, former CEO of battery storage and EMS pioneer Greensmith Energy until its acquisition by Wärtsilä in 2017.
Wellhead Electric has also selected the company as preferred integrator for two additional hybrid energy storage projects in the state, which appears to be a new announcement. Energy Vault said it will support Wellhead and W Power with the development and deployment of additional projects in California totalling over 600MWh of capacity in the ‘near term’.
The only other projects it has announced within the EVS segment are 220MW of solutions for Jupiter Power and 440MWh with an unnamed ‘large western US utility’.
W Power describes itself as a woman-owned business that develops and owns power generation facilities.
Robert Piconi, chairman and CEO of Energy Vault, commented on the Stanton ESS announcement: “This exciting project reflects our broad energy storage experience and capabilities across multiple underlying storage technologies while optimising energy density and performance requirements that was a key factor to meet Wellhead’s requirements.
Later adding: “Our EVS-enabled solutions are the natural complement to Energy Vault’s long-duration gravity storage capabilities which are being deployed globally in parallel, and a key component of our vision of being a leading energy storage technology partner to our customers that require innovation and creativity in dealing with the complexities of the grid.”
