Hummingbird Energy Storage ::  Part of Landmark Procurement to Replace Natural Gas

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Technology           Lithium ion battery energy storage

Capacity              75 MW / 300 MWh

Location              San Jose, California

Status Development

Interconnection Metcalf substation at 115 kV

Gen-Tie City of San Jose public easement

Ownership           100% esVolta

Customer              Pacific Gas & Electric

Key Fact              esVolta’s largest project to date

Additional Information: CEQA, The City of San Jose

Hummingbird developed specifically to reduce PG&E’s reliance on natural gas generation

  • In 2017, Metcalf Generating Station, a 605 MW natural gas fired plant in Coyote Valley, filed to withdraw from the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) market, due to the poor economics of operating the plant.

  • CAISO said Metcalf could not safely retire as it is critical for local grid reliability, and required PG&E to sign a Reliability Must Run (RMR) contract with Metcalf at above market prices.

  • The decision to keep Metcalf running was protested by environmental groups, resulting in the California Public Utility Commission requiring PG&E to conduct an RFP to determine if energy storage could replace the retiring natural gas generation at a lower cost.

  • The energy storage projects offered in the RFP were competitive with the RMR contract and PG&E awarded agreements to several projects including Hummingbird.

Hummingbird Project Benefits

Sources: S&P Global Market Intelligence, “GHG Emissions from a Typical Passenger Vehicle” USA EPA: https://ampd.epa.gov/ampd/

Sources: S&P Global Market Intelligence, “GHG Emissions from a Typical Passenger Vehicle”
USA EPA: https://ampd.epa.gov/ampd/

Environmental Group Support

Earth Justice, The Union of Concerned Scientists, Sierra Club, California Environmental Justice Alliance and the Environmental Defense Fund filed a joint letter to the California Public Utilities Commission voicing their support for the battery projects selected by PG&E, including Hummingbird, stating they would:

“result in improved air quality, reduced greenhouse gas pollution, and significant ratepayer savings…”
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Environmental Benefits of the Hummingbird Project

Renewable Energy Integration ::

Battery storage such as Hummingbird responds instantly to grid fluctuations, maximizing value of existing renewables and enabling addition of more new intermittent renewables to California’s gird.

Water Quality + Supply ::

Unlike gas generation, Hummingbird requires no water for operations and will have no emissions or discharges which could impact water quality.

Air Quality ::

Hummingbird has zero emissions, with no adverse impact on air quality.

Traffic ::

Once operational, Hummingbird will have no full-time employees; a single local tech will visit several times a week, and a team of 8-10 techs will spend about a week doing major maintenance annually.

Waste ::

Hummingbird creates no appreciable emissions of any kind.

Hazardous Materials ::

Hummingbird’s batteries will create little to no hazardous waste due to its lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry which contain no fluids or gels (unlike lead-acid batteries), no cobalt (unlike many lithium-ion batteries), and no toxic emissions or waste (unlike nuclear or gas). End-of-life battery recycling is taken into account during project planning and operations.

Construction ::

Hummingbird’s short build timeline minimizes inconvenience to the community.

Noise ::

Hummingbird creates almost no noise, as it is enclosed in a warehouse.