The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) is preparing to build four new battery energy storage systems that will boost the district’s energy resilience and cut operational costs by optimizing solar power and reducing peak load at its facilities.
The agency’s board of directors voted to authorize $2.2 million to design the battery systems at water treatment plants in Granada Hills, La Verne and Riverside’s Temecula Valley as well as a pump station in Lake Forest.
The projects will allow MWD to store excess power to use during peak periods and will be configured as a microgrid which means they can be connected to the larger electricity grid, or function independently during a power outage.
The projects are estimated to cost $11-12 million and be completed by mid-2022.