Stanton Battery Energy Storage

Stanton Battery Energy Storage (SBES)
The SBES power plant, located on two discontinuous parcels with the south parcel in the foreground and north parcel in the background. A portion of the separate Stanton Energy Reliability Center (SERC) 10MW BESS is visible on the right.
Country	United States
Location	Stanton, California
Coordinates	33°48′24.3864″N117°59′15.4968″W / 33.806774000°N 117.987638000°W / 33.806774000; -117.987638000
Status	In operation
Construction began	February, 2023
Commission date	July, 2023
Owners	W Power, LLC
Operators	Wellhead Electric Company, Inc.
Power generation
Storage capacity	68.8 MW / 275.2 MWh

Stanton Battery Energy Storage (SBES) is a 68.8 MW / 275.2 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) located in Stanton, California. ^[1] The facility uses lithium-ion battery cells manufactured by Samsung and was, at the time of its completion, the 15th-largest standalone battery operating within the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) market. ^{[2] [3]}

The facility is operated by Wellhead Electric Company, a California-based Independent Power Producer (IPP). ^[4] Wellhead also operates the physically adjacent Stanton Energy Reliability Center (SERC), a 98 MW natural gas-fired simple cycle power plant with accompanying 10 MW BESS. ^{[5] [6]} Stanton Battery Energy Storage was developed in part to allow for the phase-out of the natural gas portion of the existing SERC facility, which currently operates infrequently only as a peaker plant. ^[7]

Development

Construction on Stanton Battery Energy Storage began in February, 2023 and lasted 5 months. The facility reached its commercial operation date (COD) in July, 2023. ^[2] Energy Storage technology company Energy Vault provided the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) services and Energy Management System software for the project. ^{[8] [2]}

A $60 million investment tax credit (ITC) transfer for the project was completed by W Power, LLC, and Wellhead in November 2023. As a result, SBES was among the first projects to benefit from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 having expanded the ITC to include standalone energy storage. ^[9]

An official ribbon-cutting ceremony was held for the facility on December 6, 2023. ^[1]

Notes

1. Chung, Sonia (2023-12-18). "Stanton Opens 68.8-Megawatt Battery Storage Site". Orange County Business Journal. Archived from the original on May 6, 2025. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
2. "New battery facility in Stanton supports California's transition to renewable energy". Orange County Register. 2023-12-07. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
3. "Ascend's SmartBidder™ Helps Bring Wellhead Energy's 68.8 MW Stanton Battery Energy Storage Project Online in CAISO". www.ascendanalytics.com. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
4. "Energy Vault, Wellhead, W Power Begin Commercial Operation for Stanton BESS". Turbo Machinery Magazine. 2023-11-09. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
5. Commission, California Energy (May 5, 2025). "Stanton Energy Reliability Center". www.energy.ca.gov.
6. "Stanton Energy Reliability Center, LLC". Wellhead - MVP. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
7. Kobayashi-Solomon, Erik. "Energy Vault's Business Is Building Momentum". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
8. Murray, Cameron (2022-09-12). "Energy Vault to start deploying 275MWh BESS in California; adds to existing pipeline". Energy-Storage.News. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
9. Murray, Cameron (2023-11-21). "US$60 million tax credit transfer completed for W Power, Wellhead & Energy Vault's 275MWh California BESS". Energy-Storage.News. Retrieved 2025-05-06.