Optimiser GridBeyond, over the summer, began operating the 200MW/400MWh Big Rock Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in El Centro, California, with Gore Street Energy Storage Fund (GSF).
According to GridBeyond, launching Big Rock required a large team of over 20 individuals working across various countries and time zones, including data scientists, regulatory analysts and industrial control engineers. Gridbeyond provides AI-driven energy storage optimisation and trading services to battery storage asset owners, alongside demand response offerings.
Speaking with Energy-Storage.news for an upcoming interview, Sean McEvoy, President of North America at GridBeyond, explained of operating projects in California and working with GSF:
“California is a good place to put a battery. It’s more stable, it’s more steady. It’s going to cost you a little bit more and take a little bit longer to get your battery online (than Texas, for example), but you will make money.”
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McEvoy continued, “(For Big Rock), we upgraded our behind-the-meter commercial and industrial (C&I) battery to a large battery and moved our energy management system from behind to front-of-the-meter. We also added our trading team, which is 24/7 trading the 100MW of dedicated energy in the Big Rock battery into the market.”
The Big Rock BESS operates under a 12-year fixed-price resource adequacy (RA) contract worth over US$165 million, secured by a Goldman Sachs subsidiary in October 2024. It can generate up to about 40% of its revenue through RA payments and benefits from multiple revenue streams, including energy arbitrage, ancillary services and the RA contract.
The BESS project was energised in January this year. GSF purchased Big Rock from developer Avantus in 2023, when it was ready for construction. In November 2024, GSF secured an US$80 million increase in debt facilities for its battery storage projects, including Big Rock BESS.
It was announced that GridBeyond was selected to provide scheduling coordinator, trading and energy optimisation services for the project in February.
Big Rock also marks GSF’s first project in the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) market. The investor owns projects in the UK, Ireland, Germany and Texas.
Sean McEvoy’s GridBeyond colleagues Ali Karimian, director of market optimisation, Alden Phinney, regional director, wrote about the market trends impacting BESS optimisation in California’s CAISO market, along with ERCOT in Texas, for a recent Energy-Storage.news Guest Blog.
The authors described market conditions in CAISO as uniquely complex, due to the high penetration of solar during the daytime.
“Prices drop during daylight hours due to solar production and then spike during the evening. While this cycle might appear easy to exploit, the true alpha lies not in reacting to predictable curves, but in managing the intricate interplay between energy markets, ancillary services, and must-offer obligations under resource adequacy rules,” Karimian and Phinney wrote.
Meanwhile, one of Gore Street Fund’s investors has recently instigated moves to oust some of its current board of directors. Citing “sustained underperformance, a prolonged share price discount, and ongoing concerns regarding governance and strategic direction,” long-term shareholder RM Funds issued a notice to requisition a general meeting of shareholders.
GSF’s share price has declined 47% over the last three years. RM Funds has suggested actions, including the appointment of new board members, that it thinks could increase liquidity and make the fund more attractive to investors.
