New SMUD storage batteries will help Sacramento 'be the center of clean energy,' Mayor says
Sacramento (Jan. 24, 2022) They may look like ordinary shipping containers, but the rows of white metal boxes unveiled Monday at SMUD’s Hedge Solar Farm in south Sacramento are central to the utility’s renewable energy future.
Mayor Darrell Steinberg joined other elected officials from the region Monday as the Sacramento Municipal Utility District held a news conference to show off the six large-scale, lithium-ion battery storage units —a pilot project aimed at demonstrating how utilities can use such batteries on a large scale to store energy generated by solar panels wind farms that is not needed immediately.
SMUD CEO and General Manager Paul Lau called the storage battery technology “a huge jump forward” in SMUD’s quest to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2030. SMUD was the first California utility to obtain at least 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources.
“It’s audacious to say we’re going to be carbon neutral by 2030 but if anybody can do it, it’s SMUD,” Mayor Steinberg said.
The Hedge Solar Farm batteries will produce 4 megawatts of energy and offer 8-megawatt hours of storage, enough to power 800 homes for two hours with clean renewable energy. The batteries can absorb solar energy during the day when the sun is shining bright and then release it to the grid during peak demand times.
It’s the largest such battery installation in the greater Sacramento area and the first of its kind for a publicly owned utility in California, SMUD said.
The Hedge battery complex is located at SMUD’s Sacramento Power Academy training facility and will be used to help train future utility workers.
Electrify America partnered with SMUD to support the project financially. The batteries were produced by Mitsubishi.
Other elected officials attending included several SMUD board members along with U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui, state Assemblymembers Kevin McCarty and Ken Cooley, and Mayor Pro Tem Eric Guerra.
