The transition away from fossil fuels is continuing during the pandemic with approval of a new battery storage unit in Carpinteria. Santa Barbara County Planning Commission unanimously (5-0 vote) approved the 10 Megawatt unit last week.
RWE Renewables Americas is the second company to win approval for a battery unit in Carpinteria after Ormat received approval for a 10 megawatt storage unit earlier this year.
RWE’s batteries will be housed inside an existing warehouse at 4990 Foothill road next to the Southern California Edison Carpinteria substation.
Both units will be used by SCE as an alternative to building another gas power plant on the beach in Oxnard, a proposal that was strongly rejected by environmental and community groups, and will offset power from the Ormond Power Station, a polluting fracked gas facility slated for retirement . A total of 5 battery facilities will ultimately provide power instead of the gas plants.
“All of these projects are building the infrastructure for carbon-free future,” said Katie Davis, Chair of the Los Padres Chapter of the Sierra Club. “Renewable power stored by batteries is how we can fight climate change and save lives.”
The news caps off a busy week for renewable power. BayWa’s Strauss 100 Megawatt Wind Project in Lompoc, set to power 43,000 homes, received its final permits from the County to begin work. One completed, Stauss Wind will be the largest clean energy generator in Santa Barbara County. A solar farm in the Cuyama Valley currently provides 40 Megawatts of power.
The battery projects are beneficial, not only for their ability to store clean energy, but for their power grid resilience. The batteries can reduce the impact of a power outage because the region relies on powerlines cutting through mountains, which could take several weeks to repair when natural disasters like fires, landslides, and earthquakes occur.
- Jon Ullman, Sierra Club Los Padres Chapter Director
Watch: Santa Barbara County Planning commission meeting presentation and approval of the battery storage project on April 29, 2020 (starts at 1:21)