Mitsubishi to supply 39 MW microgrid storage system

San Diego Gas & Electric Co. (SDG&E), a regulated investor-owned utility providing energy service to 3.7 million people, has ordered Mitsubishi Power’s Emerald storage solutions for four utility-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) projects totaling 39 MW/180 MWh. The storage solutions will include the Emerald Integrated Plant Controller, an Energy Management System (EMS) and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system offering real-time BESS operation and a monitoring/supervisory control platform. Its features will help ensure critical public service facilities – including fire, medical, emergency management and police – are powered during peak demand and unexpected outages.

San Diego Gas & Electric is adding Mitsubishi Power’s Emerald storage solutions to strengthen grid resiliency and add reliable capacity to the region’s infrastructure for peak demand and unexpected power outages. (Photo: Mitsubishi Power)

The Elliot, Clairemont, Paradise and Boulevard microgrid BESS projects will connect to existing infrastructure in the San Diego, Calif., region to provide reliable capacity and strengthen grid resiliency amid high energy demands on hot summer days and peak evening hours.

“We live in a time when growing threats from climate change and extreme heat waves can increasingly impact grid reliability,” said SDG&E Director of Advanced Clean Technology Fernando Valero. “By expanding our energy storage portfolio, we are helping our region and critical community facilities become more resilient.”

This is the second such order by SDG&E in 2022. In March, Mitsubishi Power announced it had been awarded an order for a 10 MW/60 MWh Emerald energy storage solution for SDG&E’s Pala-Gomez Creek Energy Storage Project in Pala, Calif.

“SDG&E was an early adopter of battery energy storage in the western United States, and it continues to be a leader in deploying energy storage to serve its customers,” noted Tom Cornell, senior vice president, Energy Storage Solutions, Mitsubishi Power Americas. “We’re excited to make an impact with SDG&E on these four microgrid projects in addition to the Pala-Gomez Creek energy storage project announced earlier this year.”

The latest microgrid BESS projects, which were approved by the California Public Utilities Commission on June 23, are slated to be online in mid-2023. Mitsubishi Power will support the storage solutions with a 10-year long-term service agreement.