Development is underway on a microgrid project in California that is expected to one day host one of North America's largest flow batteries.
The California Energy Commission is providing a $31 million grant to support the project, which will provide long-duration energy storage for the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians in Alpine, California.
The grant is the CEC's largest to a tribal community. Indian Energy is developing the project.
"Not only will (the microgrid) support critical operations for the tribe during wildfire-driven power outages, it can also benefit the statewide grid in the event of emergencies while supporting innovation and investment in the long-duration storage industry as this new resource becomes fully commercialized," CEC Chair David Hochschild said.
The project will feature 30,000 solar panels with 15 MW of generating capacity and 60 MWh of energy storage capacity.
The hybrid storage system features a 10 MWh vanadium redox flow battery manufactured by Invinity Energy Systems and a 50 MWh zinc hybrid cathode battery from Eos Energy.
The microgrid will provide 24/7, 100% clean power to the Viejas Casino and Resort.
The Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, one of the remaining 12 bands of the Kumeyaay Indian Nation, resides on a 1,600-acre reservation in the Viejas Valley, east of the community of Alpine in San Diego County.
