Fire at PG&E’s Tesla battery storage facility in Moss Landing under control, authorities lift closures

September 21, 2022
LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email

A fire at PG&E’s Tesla-supplied Elkhorn Battery energy storage system at Moss Landing, California, is considered fully controlled and road closures and shelter-in-place advisories have been lifted.

A statement from the County of Monterey authority, where the system is located, said that a fire at the plant started at 2am local time on 20 September (yesterday).

The fire was isolated to a single battery pack and led to the closure of Highway 1 from Molera to Jensen Road and local residents were advised to shelter in place with windows closed, due to the risk of hazardous materials.

A statement later that evening, 7.18 pm local time, said the incident was considered fully controlled and the North County Fire Department and Monterey County Sheriff’s Office had lifted the shelter in place advice and all road closures due to the incident, effective 6.50 pm.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

The statement added that smoke could still occur and residents were being advised to remain vigilant.

CNBC quoted a captain of the fire department who said it was too early to know the cause of the incident.

PG&E commissioned the Elkhorn Battery, a 182.5MW/730MWh BESS which uses Tesla Megapacks, in April this year.

It is not to be confused with the Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility, a 400MW/1,600MWh BESS which is located at the same site but is an entirely separate system owned by Vistra Energy, but also providing power to PG&E. That project came back online in July after several months offline due to an overheating incident.

Read Next

April 16, 2026
The Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB) has approved a motion from Tesla, residential solar and battery installer Sunrun, and residential solar installer SunStrong Management to auto-enroll participants in an emergency capacity resource programme.
April 15, 2026
Engineering firm UGL is progressing the construction of two battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Australia, totalling 2,125MWh.
Premium
April 3, 2026
How do you ensure quality and performance and mitigate risk when buying BESS equipment? Expert speakers from consultancies, analytics firms and independent power producers discussed the topic in a recent panel discussion.
April 1, 2026
BESS developer-operator Harmony Energy has started construction on a 100MW/200MWh BESS in France, its third to reach that stage in the country.
March 24, 2026
Arevon, Banpu Power (BPP) and Energy Vault have made BESS project announcements totalling 1,550MWh of capacity in the US.