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California 300-MW Energy Storage Facility Goes Offline

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A 300-megawatt (MW) energy storage facility in California is offline at the same site where another storage facility went offline last year.

Late on February 13, the early detection safety system activated in the 100-MW Phase II building at Vistra’s Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility, Vistra reported.

“As is our protocol at all of our facilities, we contacted off-site emergency response out of an abundance of caution. The building’s systems contained the event without the need for the outside assistance. There are no injuries to personnel. An investigation is underway to determine what caused the safety system to activate,” the company said.

While this is in its very early stages, “what we know is the water-based suppression system released water that contacted some batteries.”

Vistra said that there is early evidence that water hoses leaked and that some batteries shorted, creating smoke in the building, similar to what was observed with a September 2021 incident at Vistra’s 300-MW Phase I facility next door.

The suppression system contained the event, and the 100-MW Phase II system is currently offline.

The Phase I facility was not affected by Sunday’s incident. “We have been in the process of incrementally bringing the Phase I facility back online but have decided to pause restart activities while we assess the Phase II incident and will incorporate any learnings,” the company said.