Gridstor Launches Commercial Operations at Goleta Battery Storage Facility
US battery developer Gridstor has officially begun commercial operations at its 60MW/160MWh battery storage facility located in Goleta, California. This project stands as the largest battery storage facility in Santa Barbara County, which also hosts a 700kW system developed by Tesla. The facility is composed of 44 containerized battery blocks, all supplied by Tesla.
In a strategic move, Gridstor has entered into a resource adequacy contract with Southern California Edison, committing to provide 40MW of resource adequacy for a duration of four hours, responding to market demands from the California Independent System Operator (CAISO). Notably, the facility is equipped with larger 60MW inverters, enabling it to handle increased electricity demand during peak times.
Gridstor emphasizes that the system has the capability to supply electricity to Goleta’s residential population during periods of high demand. “California has an urgent need for grid reliability as it decarbonizes its economy, and battery storage is the critical resource that meets both challenges,” stated Chris Taylor, CEO of Gridstor. He added, “We could not be prouder to work with the city of Goleta and other stakeholders to bring this facility to life and support California’s goals for clean, reliable energy.”
The Tesla Megapack battery energy storage system (BESS) units utilized in this project were manufactured at Tesla’s dedicated production facility in Lathrop, California. The United States is actively promoting the development of domestic energy infrastructure through legislative measures like the Inflation Reduction Act. Investor Nord/LB also contributed US$55 million in project debt financing to help complete the development of this facility.
Construction on the Goleta project commenced in June, following Gridstor’s acquisition of a 2GWh portfolio of battery storage projects in Los Angeles, reflecting the company’s ambition to rapidly expand its operations. Despite being founded only last year, Gridstor has garnered support from Horizon Energy Storage, a fund managed by Goldman Sachs, largely due to CEO Chris Taylor’s extensive experience in the renewable energy sector. Taylor previously founded and served as the chief development officer of wind and solar company Element Power and held a development director position at EDP Renewables North America. His expertise has been instrumental in establishing Gridstor as a prominent player in California’s battery market.
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