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CAISO launches graph showing California battery storage deployment and effects

According to a visual tracker on the website of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), the state has leapt from just 50 MW of battery storage in April 2018 to approximately 1,500 MW of it currently, and more is on the way.

While CAISO has charted battery usage and impacts since 2018, back then, battery use was so low it was tricky to tell if there was any material charge and discharge of commercial scale storage on the system. Flash forward to today, with thousands on the grid and another 1,500 MW expected by the end of 2021, ISO’s charts show how additions are reinforcing grid reliability and advancing California’s carbon-free electricity goals.

“No other grid in the country is adding battery storage at the rate that California is,” Gabe Murtaugh, CAISO’s storage sector manager for Market and Infrastructure Policy, said. “New storage resources create new challenges for grid operators, because there is substantial work that needs to be done to properly price and model these resources in our markets.”

Last year, CAISO noted about 550 MW of lithium-ion battery storage on its system. About 1,000 MW more were deployed since then, and Murtaugh noted that it has created a similar situation to that faced by grid operators around a decade ago, when the solar influx began.

The online chart shows batteries on CAISO’s system that could either be charging or discharging at each five minute interval of the day. Notably, the additional storage has reportedly helped keep the system balanced amid wildfires and extreme weather conditions and reduced hydropower capabilities brought on by prolonged drought in the region.

Chris Galford

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