The Caballero Battery Energy Storage Site is now operational in Nipomo. Officials gave a tour of the facility to show off the new technology and try to put community members at ease.
"This asset is compliant with all of the latest NFPA codes, and we like to think that it is state-of-the-art energy storage that you can see today," said Guillaume Dufay, Alpha Omega Power Chief Technology Officer.
Alpha Omega Power held an open house for the public Wednesday night, where community members expressed their concerns over safety at the site, with the recent fire at the Moss Landing battery storage facility still top of mind.
Officials at the site say it's unlikely that what happened in Moss Landing could happen here, due to key design differences.
"With Moss Landing, you had one incredibly large building over 800 feet long, all under one roof, with relatively limited separation between thousands of battery systems," explained Nick Warner, co-founder of the Energy Safety Response Group. "The difference here is we have small containers about the size of a walk-in freezer. Each of these small individual systems is a fraction of 1% of the size of the total battery system of Moss, not counting the rest of the building and everything else that is added to the fire load."
He adds that through thorough testing, they confirmed that if a fire were to break out in one of the storage units, it would stay isolated.
WATCH: How firefighters are training to respond to potential emergencies at Nipomo battery site
Dufay says he feels this facility will be beneficial to California as a whole, but mostly the Central Coast, especially with the state's goal of switching to clean energy sources.
"Sixty to 70 percent of the power in California right now is produced from solar or wind. Power is incredibly difficult to transport and store, and this is what this does. During the later hours of the day when the solar power goes down, and the demand from people continues being strong, into the hours of the evening, they provide that step you need to get into the night," Dufay said.
Others who toured the facility say they are feeling a little more confident about the project.
"I can't say that this facility doesn't have risks, but what I've learned certainly gives me more confidence that it does have advanced safety features. It complies with current codes. It was designed to be much safer than the Moss Landing facility," said Jimmy Paulding, San Luis Obispo County District 4 Supervisor.
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