The world’s largest solar energy production and storage project is launched
Edwards & Sanborn’s solar energy production and storage project in California is fully operational: the 875 MW DC solar photovoltaic system and 3287 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) are the largest in the world.
The Edwards & Sanborn system covers an area of 1.8 square meters. km, located in Kern County. It consists of 1.9 million. photovoltaic modules from First Solar and the BESS energy storage system from LG Chem, Samsung and BYD with a total capacity of 3287 MW. The new Edwards & Sanborn battery has outperformed the 750 MW/3000 MWh BESS plant in Moss Landing, California.
The contractor Mortenson started work on the project about three years ago, and the first phase, covering about half of the total capacity, was commissioned at the end of 2021.
The capacity of the solar energy collection system is 1300 MW. It serves facilities of the City of San Jose, Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric utilities, Clean Power Alliance aggregator, and Starbucks café chain.
Most California BESS projects are designed for 4 hours, which meets the CAISO grid operator’s resource adequacy criteria. If necessary, this system will be able to work longer, but the exact time is not specified.
Part of the project is located at Edwards Air Force Base, and according to a Mortenson spokesperson, the solar power plant system was built with the assistance of the US Department of Defense.
