Early morning news, since yesterday and into today 1/17/2025 Moss landing in California has had the (third) energy storage system fire at the facility since 2021. I’m wondering if this isn’t a consequence pointed out by ‘other’ battery fires involving old manufactured cells by LG Chem., first called in the 2019 McMicken fire in Arizona, the recall and replacement of residential energy storage units by LG (Chem) LGResu10H ESS units from consumer complaints of smoke and smells coming from their home ESS units and of course the LG Chem derived battery packs of early GM Bolts. After all of that LG Chem announced (they) found irregularities on a “couple” of manufacturing lines and changing to a superior separator material and fixing equipment on the manufacturing lines (had) fixed the fail points. Sometime in this period LG Chem became energy storage tranche LGES. One has to wonder is this fire at Moss landing a result of one lousy cell out of millions failing into thermal runaway taking the whole BESS system in a conflagration that can be seen for miles? Is this one of those early LG Chem defective battery cells raising its ugly head once again? Taking the fire and “investigations” in the McMicken fire, it may be almost a (year) for final determination of this particular Moss landing fire.

“In the U.S., the Inflation Reduction Act’s standalone storage incentives can further improve project economics, while FERC Order 2023 stands to streamline interconnection processes. At the state level, California leads in battery deployment with programs rewarding grid resiliency, while Texas leverages its growing demand for grid stability.”

California may also “flesh out” as the lab rat for early energy storage cell technologies that may or may not be proven to be dangerous to keep in service. A plan to R&R utility scale BESS units with better design and battery chemistry, ‘probably’ LFP as a new normal from now on. This may push current and future utility scale Energy Storage Facilities to start constructing very large redox flow batteries or start using some kind of metal/air (Form Energy) ESS as the building blocks of massive utility energy storage systems. I can see “hybrid” energy storage systems using two battery technologies, such as ‘Iron/air’ long term energy storage coupled to fast acting energy storage to feed inverters for grid services using something like (LTO) fast reacting battery chemistry or even molten salt cells like those from AMBRI.

Utility scale energy storage has to get past the “paradigm” of burn fuel, generate on demand and dispatch electricity to a more efficatious, capture, store, time shift, dispatch generation system.