Strata Clean Energy officially inaugurated its 70 MW Inland Empire Energy Storage project in Rialto, California. The facility, the result of a partnership between the North Carolina-based developer and utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), will provide up to 280 MWh of energy to support the San Bernadino County region.
According to Strata, the new facility is designed to store excess energy generated during periods of low demand and release it during times of peak demand. A Strata spokesperson told pv magazine USA that the batteries at the heart of the system are Powin Centipedes.
Inland Empire is also intended to support of the state’s renewable energy targets. As one of nine battery storage projects announced by PG&E in 2022, the Inland Empire Energy Storage project is part of a broader effort to replace retiring fossil-fuel plants.
This transition comes at a time of growing energy demand, fueled in part by the growing number of power-hungry data centers supporting AI technologies, the adoption of electric vehicles and increasing electrification across other sectors of the economy.
The facility received a 15-year Resource Adequacy Agreement from PG&E in February 2022. Southern California Edison and PG&E facilitated the project’s interconnection, allowing it to achieve commercial operation status on October 9, 2024.
“This project reflects our commitment to advancing energy storage solutions and delivering results that support a sustainable, renewable-powered grid,” said Bob Schaffeld, president of Strata Clean Energy.
Beyond its impact on energy reliability and sustainability, Strata said the Inland Empire project also brings economic benefits to the region, including an estimated $13.3 million in property taxes and $710,000 in utility taxes over 20 years. In addition, over 92 local construction jobs created, and more than $50 million in local revenue will be generated during construction, Strata reports.
Inland Empire Energy Storage is Strata’s second contracted battery storage project in California. The 400 MWh Ventura Energy Storage project (now owned by Arevon) came online in the summer of 2021 and is serving Southern California Edison under a twenty-year Resource Adequacy Agreement.
Strata and its affiliates have over 170 solar generation and energy storage projects in operation, and a pipeline of more than 6 GW of solar and 22 GWh of storage in development.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.