CleanPowerSF, San Francisco’s local, clean electricity provider, is working to improve the reliability of the power grid for its 385,000 customers and California.
The SFPUC’s clean energy program recently committed to a new battery storage project at a solar site located in Riverside County. The project, which will be operational later this year, will be able to store solar energy produced in the middle of the day in batteries when electricity is abundant and discharge that electricity when it is more scarce, such as in the early evening when the sun goes down.
Battery storage projects like these are critical if San Francisco and California want to achieve their climate goals of 100% renewable energy by 2025 and 2045, respectively. By being able to discharge solar energy later in the evening, battery storage projects help reduce the grid’s reliance on costlier, dirtier fossil fuels.
Battery storage is also crucial for helping to keep the lights on during extreme weather events, like an unusually hot day. The batteries will be able to discharge clean solar energy when air conditioners are blasting, rather than resorting to dirtier fossil fuels to meet demand. They could also help mitigate the need for rolling blackouts during these times.
This is just one step of many that CleanPowerSF is taking to invest in clean energy projects and battery storage in the Bay Area and California. The program’s most recent roadmap to 100% renewable energy includes investing in 81 megawatts (MW) of solar and 27 MW of battery storage in the Bay Area. View CleanPowerSF’s Integrated Resource Plan.
CleanPowerSF and the SFPUC will continue to work towards enhancing grid reliability and investing in our clean energy future. It’s an important step to ensure we continue providing clean, safe, and affordable electricity to our customers when they need it.
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