California Energy Commission funding supports SMUD’s decarbonization goals
Sacramento, Calif. – SMUD’s long-duration battery storage project in partnership with ESS Tech, Inc. has been awarded a $10 million grant from the California Energy Commission to demonstrate a groundbreaking 3.6-megawatt, 8-hour iron flow battery project and set the foundation for future large-scale battery deployments and manufacturing at energy centers in Sacramento.
The project aims to showcase the capability and reliability of iron flow battery technology, which complements renewable energy sources like wind and solar by storing energy and strategically dispatching it based on demand to support grid distribution and transmission systems as SMUD transitions to a carbon-free power portfolio by 2030.
“Thank you to California Energy Commission Chairman David Hochschild, fellow commissioners and staff for continuing to lead the way in policy development and investments that make California the leader for others to follow in the transition to a clean energy future,” said SMUD’s Chief Legal & Government Affairs Officer Laura Lewis.
“The CEC’s partnership and investment in clean technologies are critical to advancing and bringing them to scale, while helping SMUD keep its rates among the lowest in California.”
Eliminating carbon emissions
SMUD continues to make great strides toward its goal to eliminate carbon emissions from its power supply by 2030 through investments in renewable energy projects, customer programs and cutting-edge technologies, such as its partnership with ESS to deliver and grow long-duration energy storage and other zero-carbon innovation. This technology not only captures and stores clean energy, ensuring it’s available around the clock and maximizing the use of renewable resources, but it also enhances resource adequacy, especially during peak demand times, providing a stable, reliable and clean energy supply for its community.
“The California Energy Commission is proud to support this exciting long-duration energy storage project which will help drive this new clean energy industry into the mainstream,” said California Energy Commission Chair David Hochschild. “It’s a technology that’s needed to harness excess renewables for use during peak demand and overnight, especially as we work toward a goal of 100 percent clean electricity.”
The partnership and technology offer several anticipated benefits, including accelerating the commercialization of iron flow batteries, improving the cost-competitiveness of non-lithium long-duration energy storage, bolstering grid reliability, complementing SMUD’s renewables, and supporting workforce development and the local economy through clean energy jobs.
Iron flow battery technology
Currently, the ESS iron flow long-duration energy storage project is in its early phases at SMUD’s Sacramento Power Academy. In September 2023, ESS commissioned six Energy Warehouse(tm) systems for SMUD as part of a 2-gigawatt-hour framework agreement. The existing 450 kilowatt / 2,400 kilowatt-hour Energy Warehouse system at SMUD’s Sacramento Power Academy continues to provide SMUD and ESS with valuable insights through risk and benefits analysis, use case studies and performance testing. These efforts will ultimately determine the optimal applications for iron flow battery technology, aiming to achieve cost and performance competitiveness relative to lithium-ion batteries for 8-hour durations and longer.
ESS will deliver up to 200 megawatts / 2 gigawatt-hours of iron flow long-duration energy storage systems. Once fully operational and paired with renewable energy, these systems are expected to eliminate approximately 284,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions per year from SMUD’s grid.
Alongside the California Energy Commission’s grant, SMUD is committing approximately $19.5 million in cost-sharing for labor and material expenses for the combined 4-megawatt ESS Tech, Inc. long-duration energy storage project, which includes the existing 450-kilowatt installation and the newly grant-funded 3.6-megawatt addition.