A 30 megawatt (MW), 120 megawatt-hours (MWh) lithium-ion battery storage system has come on line in San Diego, California. It is named “Top Gun”, in honor of the famed naval aviation training program by the same name—the fighter school was previously located at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar that is adjacent to the energy storage facility. The facility is comprised of over 15,000 lithium-ion batteries installed in custom enclosures.

RES (Renewable Energy Systems) will provide operations and maintenance (O&M) service for the facility under an O&M agreement with San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E).

"Energy storage projects like Top Gun are helping to accelerate the energy transition and we are delighted to deliver this project to San Diego Gas & Electric," said Tom Duckett, RES President of Development in a company news release.  "We look forward to supporting the project for the next twenty years by providing operations and maintenance services."

RES  is the world's largest independent renewable energy company active in onshore and offshore wind, solar, energy storage, transmission, and distribution. RES has delivered more than 21GW of renewable energy projects across the globe and supports an operational asset portfolio exceeding 7GW worldwide for a large client base. RES employs more than 3,000 people and is active in 10 countries. 

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The Top Gun facility at Miramar is part of SDG&E's goal to achieve 165 MW of long-term energy storage to reduce the usage of fossil fuel for electricity production. "SDG&E has been investing in a variety of energy storage technology for a decade because we recognize the important role it plays in helping to strengthen grid reliability and maximize the use of renewable energy," said SDG&E's Director of Advanced Clean Technology Fernando Valero. "As climate change fuels more extreme weather events, such as record heat waves, energy storage serves as a critical resource to prevent or limit power outages."

The Top Gun facility can provide the energy equivalent for serving 20,000 residential customers for four hours. It is one of three energy storage projects that SDG&E is adding to the grid over the next year.

Kevin Clemens is a Senior Editor with Battery Technology.