A speaker form the AES Alamitos Electricity Generating Station will speak on September 9th at 1:30pm

The AES Alamitos Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) lies on the Western border of Leisure World.  A few thousand feet away from Leisure World residences sits a facility full of Lithium Ion batteries used to smooth out the electricity delivered by solar farms.

The AES Alamitos Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) is a project of many firsts.

• It’s the world’s first stand-alone energy storage project for local capacity.
• It’s the world’s first grid-scale battery energy storage system to receive a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA).
• It’s the first standalone battery energy storage system specifically procured to replace a natural gas peaker plant in the U.S.

The AES Alamitos BESS was procured specifically to provide power at times of peak demand, but it will also support grid modernization, increase the integration of renewable energy and lower costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

The 100 MW / 400 MWh of energy storage will allow the state to “set-aside” renewable energy for use during peak times and reduce its reliance on fossil fuels by discharging stored renewable energy to address peak demand.

The AES Alamitos Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) has 1,386 racks of batteries across 99 nodes and three cores.

Said the builder: “What we did was build a huge battery, completely self-contained with its own heating and cooling and fire suppression. It is a huge, big battery sitting in Long Beach. It has never been done before.”