PG&E's massive battery storage project at Moss Landing is approved.

The Monterey County Planning Commission unanimously approved PG&E’s proposed battery storage system, one of the largest of its kind in the world, on Feb. 26 adding to another, even larger system approved last year. The projects will be located at the Moss Landing Power Plant and on an adjacent electrical substation. 

Battery technology is important for California’s clean energy transition because of the possibility of storing power generated during the day by solar panels and discharging it when the sun goes down and people flick on the lights at home. 

PG&E’s Elkhorn Battery Storage Facility will be located on 4.5 acres off Dolan Road and Highway 1 at the substation. The batteries installed by the utility will come from Tesla, which will provide 268 Megapack lithium-ion units that can store 730-megawatt-hours. That translates to the output of a relatively small traditional power plant for four hours. 

The only opposition to the project came from a union group, but the group withdrew its objections before the commission meeting when it reached a deal with PG&E.